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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26393947">An Adventure Through Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/InuRiotGrrl/pseuds/InuRiotGrrl'>InuRiotGrrl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Blood and Violence, F/M, Love, Romance, Sex, Swearing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:02:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>120,458</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26393947</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/InuRiotGrrl/pseuds/InuRiotGrrl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>How would the story have gone if both Inuyasha and Kagome already knew each other and were from present day, and fell through the well together? An InuKag adventure/romance with some nice steamy scenes. Many of the same characters but different events. **Nominated for Best Action in The Feudal Connection!!**</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Miroku/Sango (InuYasha)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>123</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Birthday Girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"No. No way," Kagome shook her head fervently. Staring at herself in the mirror, she decided there was not a chance in hell she was going to walk out of her bedroom looking like this.</p><p>Sonya frowned and tilted her head at her best friend. "Why not? I think it's absolutely perfect."</p><p>"Because it is way too <em>sexy</em>!" Kagome exclaimed, as she gave the other girl an exasperated look. Turning back to the mirror, she frowned deeply and tugged at the hem of her shirt. The clingy bright red top lined with lace stopped a few inches above the top of her jeans, revealing skin in a manner she wasn't accustomed to.</p><p>"And that is why it is absolutely perfect. <em>You</em> are sexy," Sonya declared. "You have the perfect figure to pull it off. I told you I would make you look good tonight, and I think I did a damn good job. And that bra makes your boobs look awesome. I'm jealous."</p><p>Kagome crossed her arms over her bare stomach. "I just feel weird showing this much skin when we aren't at the beach or pool, though. I've never dressed like this before." She had originally planned to wear a nice top and skirt, but when Sonya had given her the skimpy red top, she had grabbed a pair of jeans instead, so she didn't look too trampy. Maybe she should throw a jacket on...</p><p>Sonya grinned and reached over to adjust the braid she had put in Kagome's hair. "You've also never turned twenty one years of age before. It's perfect for the occasion, I'm telling you. Now, just need to get your hair in the perfect balance of neat yet messy, which is all the rage these days." While she pulled some tendrils out, Kagome just stood there, giving her best friend an annoyed look.</p><p>Clapping her hands together in approval, Sonya gave the shorter girl a critical glance over. She was quite pleased with the ensemble she had chosen for the special occasion, even if Kagome didn't seem that thrilled with it. However, she had been conspiring with her long-term boyfriend, and they had decided that maybe their best friends each needed a slight nudge in the right direction. Well, maybe not so slight. A good hard shove might do the trick though, she smirked to herself.</p><p>"Oh, I almost forgot the makeup. Sit down," Sonya ordered. Kagome sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed, as she reluctantly waited the final touches.</p><p>The girls had been best friends for years, although they were quite different. Kagome had always been more of a girly girl, a natural raven-haired beauty who usually wore skirts and dresses and rarely any makeup. Sonya was one year older, a few inches taller, with brown eyes and brown hair. She was definitely a tomboy, preferring to dress in pants and athletic gear, but oddly enough she had a penchant for makeup. Kagome was a bit on the shy side, whereas Sonya was very outgoing and extroverted.</p><p>Both girls were Americans, despite living in Tokyo currently. They were part of a very small circle of friends, with the other two being male, and also American. Living amongst the Japanese, they were very much in the minority, and that was what had drawn them together in the first place. It was hard getting to know anybody in a more ethnocentric society.</p><p>Kagome had lived here the longest, for her mother had moved the family to Tokyo to help care for their grandfather, who operated the Higurashi shrine. The old man could no longer take care of it on his own, so Mama had moved her and her brother from Denver, to stay with him at the shrine and help out, as it was his pride and joy. Her grandfather wasn't a biological relative, as he had married her American grandmother, widowed at a young age shortly after Kagome's mother was born. So Mama had grown up in Tokyo before falling in love with an American when she visited some of her family in the States as a teenager, and eventually moved there to marry him. Tragedy struck the family once again, when he was killed in a car crash several years ago, shortly before their move.</p><p>Sonya was originally from Dallas, and had moved to Tokyo shortly before high school began, as her parents were military and moved every few years. Mostly they had moved around America, but when the opportunity to live overseas popped up, they eagerly took it. Although she had expected to follow them back to America when they moved after high school ended, she had decided to remain in Tokyo to attend university here. Her love for the country was one reason, the other being her boyfriend Mark, who was here to continue working and training in the family business, and had no plans to move elsewhere anytime soon.</p><p>Mark was the only one who had a bit of Japanese in the family, although he had been born and raised American. He had grown up in Seattle, and after a few trips to Japan when he was younger, he had decided he wanted to remain in the family trade. Although they had lived in different cities, Sonya and Mark had known each other from chatting online for years, before ending up in Tokyo together. It didn't take long for them to start dating, albeit it off and on, during high school, however they got more serious upon graduation. Mark's wandering eye, and hand, got him into hot water quite frequently, however they somehow remained a couple.</p><p>Shortly after moving here, Mark had befriended a hanyou from Montana named Inuyasha, and Kagome had a social studies class with Sonya, which brought the four of them together. Inuyasha was the oldest of the four of them, at twenty-three. He was a loner with a bit of a bad boy vibe, mainly due to his unsual appearance and love for motorcycles, that made people tend to naturally avoid him. Whenever he hung out with them as a group, he was always friendliest towards Mark and Sonya, but with Kagome he tended to either be distant or antagonized her a bit. Despite all of that, she had pretty much instantly developed a secret crush on him, which he never seemed to reciprocate. Eventually Sonya caught on, and seemed to think it was the most adorable thing ever, to her dismay.</p><p>"Perfect. You look <em>hot</em>. Now let's rock and roll!" Sonya said happily. She was pleased with the smoky eye look that she had given her friend. It was a little less intense than she normally did her own makeup, for she knew Kagome didn't like to look overdone.</p><p>With a whine and grumble, Kagome allowed Sonya to grab her hand and lead her downstairs, to where the guys were lounging in the living room. They were on opposite ends of the huge, L-shaped couch, watching one of their stupid adult cartoons that always made the girls roll their eyes. A large "Happy Birthday Kagome!" banner was strung up along the wall, and there were balloons drifting about everywhere.</p><p>"Ta-da! The birthday girl is here!" Sonya announced loudly, holding her arms out as if she was presenting Kagome to the world.</p><p>Kagome blushed a bit and fought the urge to cover up when both males in the room swiveled their heads. "Happy Birthday!" Mark called out, clapping his hands. Kagome smiled at him, and then glanced in Inuyasha's direction. For some reason she thought he had been giving her a wide-eyed look, but as she made eye contact with him, he had his usual poker face on. That guy was always so standoffish and hard to read, she thought. It didn't surprise her when he simply remained silent and turned his attention back to the television.</p><p>"Here, have a beer, now that you're legal!" Mark added, as he grabbed an unopened bottle from the table, and presented it to Kagome, bowing in an exaggerated manner.</p><p>"I've been able to legally drink for a year," Kagome laughed. She wasn't the biggest fan of beer, but she took the bottle regardless and took a small sip.</p><p>"I know, but still. We are Americans though, and twenty one is <em>our</em> rite of passage. Drink!" Mark grinned. He held his bottle up and chinked it against hers.</p><p>"Cheers!" Sonya chimed in, as she grabbed a bottle to join in the celebration. Inuyasha merely took a long gulp of his and kept his attention glued to the tv.</p><p>Kagome looked up at her Mama entered the room a moment later. "Oh, my, my little girl is all grown up. Don't you think that shirt is a little short, though?" Mama Higurashi asked, a slight frown, as she eyeballed her daughter.</p><p>"I bought it and made her wear it for the special occasion," Sonya chimed in quickly, not wanting her friend to get chided at in front of everybody. "Girls need to look super fancy for birthdays, right?"</p><p>Mama just smiled, for her daughter was a fully grown adult. If she had been a teenager, she would have objected and made her change into something more conservative. "Dinner will be ready shortly, then we will have cake and open presents, and then you four can go continue the celebrations while us old folks go to bed." She headed back to the kitchen to let the young adults chill out in the living room together.</p><p>"Perfect!" Sonya beamed. "We should have plenty of time to go to the festival then!"</p><p>"What festival?" Kagome asked curiously. She knew they were going to go out tonight, but nobody had really told her any of the plans, naturally.</p><p>"The penis festival!" Sonya told her seriously. At Kagome's gaping expression, she doubled over with laughter. "No, I'm only kidding. We were going to take you to the amusement park, since they are having special nighttime events this week."</p><p>"Sounds much better than going to a festival full of penises," Kagome snickered.</p><p>From the other room, Mama called out for them to come get some dinner. Kagome's grandfather was already seated in his usual spot. Souta was next to him, and at the head of the table, somebody had decorated the chair to look like a big birthday throne. Sonya was pulling her to her throne, while Mark hurried off to help Mama, trying to be the gentleman as always. And as for Inuyasha, he just plopped down into an empty chair somewhere in the middle on the empty side.</p><p>"Spaghetti, meatballs, and lots and lots of garlic bread!" Mama sang, as she and Mark brought some large plates to the table. "Your favorite meal."</p><p>Kagome's eyes lit up as she grabbed two pieces of garlic bread. Then the doorbell rang, and since Sonya was standing with empty hands, she ran off to go answer it. "Hojo?" Kagome blinked in surprise a few moments later, when the young man she had shared a few classes with walked in, Sonya behind him, hands up and shoulders shrugged, for she had no idea why he was there either.</p><p>"Higurashi-san, I remembered when you stated your birthday, so I have been waiting to give you this gift. I bought it eight months ago," Hojo greeted her, as he wiped the sweat from his brow after greeting her with a bow.</p><p>He was a bit of a not-so-secret admirer, and while Kagome tried her best to be polite to him, since he meant well, she wished he would just stop bothering her. It was hard to do, because he was trying to be kind, and she didn't enjoy hurting anybody's feelings. "Thank you, Hojo. You didn't have to though," she replied, forcing a small smile, while taking the wrapped gift that he thrust into her hands. "I'm actually opening all of my presents after dinner and dessert so I'll just put this with the rest of them for now."</p><p>"No problem at all, I am free all night," Hojo told her. As he grabbed the seat next to her, he nearly knocked her water over onto her lap. Thankfully Kagome's fast reflexes caught it, and she only spilled it onto the tablecloth. "How did you find the soluble fiber supplements that I brought you last month?" Without giving her the chance to answer, he started babbling away, going on about the various health benefits.</p><p>"I guess I'll go find another chair," Mark said, as soon as Hojo stopped to catch his breath. He turned on his heel and left. Grandpa, Souta, Sonya, and Inuyasha were all staring at Kagome and Hojo, who were now seated a bit too uncomfortably close. Mama on the other hand didn't seem the least bit fazed and cheerfully announced that she was glad she made so much food, especially since they now had a surprise guest.</p><p>"Higurashi-san, you look cold," Hojo frowned, as he turned to her. "Good thing I brought some ginger root. I'll give you some."</p><p>With Hojo turned away, Kagome quickly shot Sonya a pleading glance. '<em>Help me</em>,' she mouthed dramatically. All the other girl could do was hold up her hands in a helpless gesture.</p><p>Unfortunately, it didn't seem as if Hojo would be leaving anytime soon, for Mama started to chat him up. "I don't think I've met you before, my dear. Have you known Kagome long?"</p><p>While Hojo started to run Mama's ear off, Sonya just shrugged and gave her a helpless look. Apparently they would be stuck with the surprise guest, at least through the remainder of dinner. Perhaps after opening the presents, the others would just pretend to leave, to give Hojo a hint that the party was over.</p><p>After dinner was finished, her friends helped Mama clear the table. Usually Kagome would do it, but she had been banned from assisting with chores for the day. "That's a huge cake!" Kagome exclaimed, when both Sonya and Mark carried the box together, as it was quite long.</p><p>They made her close her eyes as they set the box on the table in front of her. As soon as she was allowed to look, Kagome clapped a hand to her mouth, letting out a surprised laugh. "Mountains? You had a cake made for me to look like mountains?"</p><p>"Not just any mountains! Look closely!" Sonya beamed.</p><p>Leaning down a bit, Kagome eyed the various peaks, following the outline of the silhouette. The bottom of the mountains were green, and were made to look as if they had a lot of snow on the peaks. "You got me a cake of the freaking Teton mountain range, didn't you?" she exclaimed in shock.</p><p>"Bingo!" Sonya clapped her hands. "I knew you would get it! You always said you wanted to go there someday, so I decided we should just give you a smaller version instead, for the time being. One that you can eat."</p><p>"One of my coworkers has a sister who is a cake designer specialist or something like that. This is literally what she does for a living. I'm super impressed with how it turned out," Mark added.</p><p>"I love it so much, you have no idea. This is literally the best cake I have ever gotten!" Kagome gushed happily. She clapped her hands together and leaned down a bit to look at her cake at eye level. "I'm totally getting Grand Teton peak for my slice.</p><p>"I made you a cake once, remember?" Hojo butted in. "The bran one."</p><p>"Nobody cares," Inuyasha grumbled loudly, which made the others snicker quietly. Apparently Hojo remained oblivious to his little remark.</p><p>Birthday girl got to cut the cake up, serving herself first, and then dividing up the various peaks between her friends and family. It was chocolate and raspberry on the inside, and absolutely delicious.</p><p>As planned, Kagome started to open her gifts once the remaining sections of cake were brought to the kitchen, to be packed up and stored later. Starting with her family's gifts first, she received a watercolor kit from Souta, some nice, designer clothes and boots from Mama, and a shriveled up hand from her grandpa…</p><p>"Thanks," Kagome grimaced, as she dropped it onto the table, pushing it away with a napkin. Perhaps later she would slip it to the family cat. He would probably appreciate it immensely.</p><p>"Oh, this could be useful!" Hojo exclaimed, as he reached for the mummy hand. Kagome just exchanged a look with her best friend, who was trying not to burst out laughing.</p><p>"Mine first!" Sonya squealed, when she regained enough composure to speak. She handed Kagome three large gift bags, which contained a brand new purse, that she had been eyeing for the past month, an antique looking jewelry box, and a heated blanket.</p><p>"Here, we can plug that in so you can cover up and stay warm," Hojo said, as he reached for the box.</p><p>"Kagome doesn't need to cover up if she doesn't want to, and I'm sure she is capable of plugging the blanket in by herself if she would like to use it," Sonya butted in sharply, as she grabbed the box before the obnoxious boy could reach it. She had a plan, damn it!</p><p>"I'm quite comfortable right now, thank you," Kagome told him, for she honestly wasn't cold at all. The next gift was from Mark. He had gotten her a nice case for her camera and lenses, since she had been getting more into photography lately. Hojo handed her his gift next, which turned out to be a set of measuring cups and a fanny pack with a first aid kit inside. With a tight smile, she thanked him as well.</p><p>"What about Inuyasha, did you bring Kagome a present?" Sonya wondered out loud with a frown, as she checked the table where the gifts had been piled previously.</p><p>Inuyasha merely shrugged. "Didn't realize I was supposed to buy something."</p><p>"It's ok," Kagome smiled politely, for she hadn't expected him to show up with a gift in the first place. In all honesty, she was surprised he even came in the first place. "All of these gifts are very much appreciated, not expected."</p><p>"Kagome," her grandpa wheezed a bit, from his end of the table. "I need you to go to the shed. Remember that big wooden box I had delivered three days ago? I need you to bring it inside."</p><p>"That big box that weighs about a ton?" Kagome blinked. "I can't lift that by myself."</p><p>Sonya grinned and patted Inuyasha on the back. "Well, Inuyasha, since you didn't bring a gift, at least you can go help out and do some heavy lifting instead. You're the strongest one here. Sound good?"</p><p>"Sure," Inuyasha sighed. Pushing back from the table, he stood up, following Kagome outside. He had been feeling a little off tonight to begin with, and had been more quiet than usual. In general, Kagome made him feel unnerved, and it got worse as they left the house alone. It was that damn scrap of cloth that could barely be called a shirt, he snorted to himself, as he couldn't resist turning his eyes in an effort to peek her way. The last thing he needed was for her to actually catch drift that he found her attractive. She had stunned him upon first stepping into the living room earlier, for he had never seen her in such revealing clothing. He always found her cute, but tonight she looked downright sexy.</p><p>To settle his nerves, he reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, quickly lighting one and closing his eyes when it started to take the edge off. It was dark now, but the moon was bright and high enough for even Kagome to see easily, as they walked along the somewhat uneven stone pathway.</p><p>Kagome cast him a sidelong glance, for that was one habit she truly detested. "You really shouldn't smoke, Inuyasha. Don't you know what those can do to you?"</p><p>"Yeah, well, I do when I'm fucking stressed out, wench. Besides, they don't affect me like they would you. I'm not human, in case you've forgotten," Inuyasha grouched at her. They walked the rest of the way in silence, with Kagome maintaining her quick pace to stay in front of him and avoid the smoke blowing her way.</p><p>The shed was quite large, and dark inside. Kagome had to thump around for a light switch, which turned one single bulb on. As she started digging around, for apparently the box in question wasn't as easy to find as he expected it to be, he watched her with crossed arms. Despite his annoyance, he couldn't help but notice the way the dim lighting cast interesting shadows and highlights on her curves. "Why do you let Hobo fawn all over you like that, when you clearly can't stand him?"</p><p>Kagome shrugged. "I don't let him fawn all over me. He gets on my nerves and all, but I know he means well, so I try to be polite to him. I guess I would feel bad if I was rude to him, when he isn't being rude to me first."</p><p>"He would probably run home crying," Inuyasha snickered. "The boy is pathetic. Who gives a set of measuring cups for a fucking birthday gift? Probably just got them at the 100-yen store."</p><p>"I guess it's the thought that counts?" Kagome shrugged. "I mean, it is a very pathetic gift, but I guess he wanted to give me something, at least?"</p><p>Inuyasha snorted. "Give me a fucking break. No gift would have been better than that shit. You just make it worse and encourage him by smiling at him all the time and entertaining him."</p><p>"I do not make it worse!" Kagome retorted indignantly. "I just find it hard to be outwardly rude to other people for no reason. So I've put up with it."</p><p>"Do you put up with it because you actually like him?" Inuyasha asked, maintaining indifference. "Like, that's what you really want in a man? Somebody who gives you fucking fiber and fanny packs?"</p><p>"No, that's not what I want," Kagome started to say.</p><p>"Well, you don't do a good job proving otherwise," Inuyasha interrupted her. "Just wait, next he's going to show up with a box of feminine products for you for Christmas."</p><p>"Well, those would actually be useful," Kagome joked, trying to make light of the conversation. "But seriously, what's it matter to you all of a sudden, anyway? You're acting like you're the expert here or something. So tell me, what do I need in a man anyway?" She glanced up at Inuyasha with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>Inuyasha uncrossed his arms and followed her towards the back of the shed, as she kept moving dusty old boxes out of the way. "Well, somebody who isn't such a pussy would be a good start, for one. Somebody strong, who will always have your back. I guarantee if you and Hobo were ever facing any danger, he would probably just curl up into a little ball and die."</p><p>"His name is Hojo, but I agree. Strong he is not," Kagome replied. "But like I said, I don't like him anyway. He's not my type. He is nice, and I don't want to hurt his feelings, but that's all." She jumped a bit, as cobwebs hit her face, clawing like crazy to try and pull them off. "Oh, here's the box that Grandpa wants! I wonder why the delivery man put it all the way back here!"</p><p>When he didn't answer, Kagome turned to look for him. The silver-haired man had his back to her and was slowly walking away, towards the old brick well that stood in the center of the shed. "Inuyasha?" she asked. "Inuyasha?" she asked again, this time more nervously, when he ignored her and slowly crept towards the well. There was something extremely odd in the way he moved, like he was suddenly a predator on the prowl.</p><p>"Shhhh," Inuyasha hissed, putting a hand up. His ears were pricked and on high alert, for he could have sworn that he heard something coming from the well. All of a sudden, the air started to feel heavy, and his skin tingled as goosebumps broke out everywhere. Whatever he was feeling now was a very different kind of unease than what he had felt before, when he was alone with Kagome.</p><p>Still standing by the box, Kagome watched Inuyasha continue to creep forward. The way he was acting was making her nervous. Backing up a bit, she bumped into a bookshelf and knocked a few vials off of it. The glasses fell to the floor and shattered, spilling their contents all over the hardwood floor. "Shit! Grandpa is going to kill me!"</p><p>"Shut <em>up</em>!" Inuyasha hissed loudly. "Something's going on with the well. I think something's in there. It looks like there is some kind of…movement? What the fuck?"</p><p>"Inuyasha, stop it! You're just trying to scare me!" Kagome exclaimed loudly. "I'm not falling for it!"</p><p>"I'm not joking. Something's in there," Inuyasha repeated tensely. The well was so deep and dark that even his eyes could not see the bottom, however he knew that there was some kind of presence, for he could feel it. It wasn't demonic, but felt wrong all the same.</p><p>Stubbornly, Kagome refused to fall for his prank. She found a flashlight on the bookshelf and quickly switched it on, before storming over to his side. "Bullshit, there's nothing in-" Instead of finishing her sentence, she screamed, loudly.</p><p>
  <em>A/N: Smoking isn't cool or sexy. Don't do it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Reviews are greatly appreciated!</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Where Are We?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as Kagome had leaned over the edge of the well, it was as if a black hole had opened up and sucked her off of her feet. She screamed at the top of her lungs, as she felt herself plummeting through darkness at neck-breaking speed. As she fell, she felt as if she was moving faster and faster. She was screaming so loud that she couldn’t even hear herself any longer. There had to be a bottom to this well, right? It was the most terrifying experience of her life, for any second she expected to meet the bottom and turn into a pancake.</p>
<p>Except the bottom of the well never came, and Kagome found herself flailing, as she streamed through the darkness. <em>‘Am I already dead?’</em> she thought with despair, as tears leaked from her eyes, mainly from the pressure of the wind as it streamed by. There was even a light up ahead, and it was steadily increasing in brightness, although not very rapidly. Feeling absolutely terrified, she kept her eyes glued to it, as the orb of light got larger and larger, until it was blinding and surrounding her.</p>
<p>Then Kagome slammed into something, hard, getting her breath knocked clean out of her. Completely stunned, she lay there for a moment, before realizing that she wasn’t laying on the ground. She was laying on top of somebody’s chest, and they were growling, very loudly and very painfully.</p>
<p>“Get. Off. Of. Me. NOW!” Inuyasha snarled. He was flat on his back, hardly able to breathe because the wind had gotten knocked out of him when he crashed onto the ground, and then again when Kagome had crashed down right onto him.</p>
<p>Gasping at their predicament, Kagome put her hand on his chest and pushed off, raising her upper body to quickly put space between them. In her daze, she ended up floundering around awkwardly.</p>
<p>Beneath her, Inuyasha’s face was contorting, and he was quite red. He grabbed her shoulders, shoving her to the side, making her land flat on her ass. Once she was off of him, he doubled over, attempting to curl into the fetal position. “You fucking <em>crushed</em> my balls,” he choked. “Fucking goddamn it that hurt!”</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kagome stuttered, red-faced. “I didn’t mean to—hey, what the hell just happened just now? Am I crazy or dreaming or something? Are you really there?” </p>
<p>“Stop it!” Inuyasha snapped, when she reached over to pinch his arm. “I can tell this is no dream since you pretty much castrated me a moment ago!”</p>
<p>Kagome was busy staring, turning in place, as she took in the scenery around them. Somehow they had been inside the dark shed at her shrine, and were now on the edge of a wide open meadow, in the middle of day, after having fallen for about half an hour. A thick forest was just behind them, and the meadow ahead was full of gently sloping hills of green grass and a vast array of beautifully colored wildflowers. </p>
<p>“Where the hell are we?” she yelled, immediately panicking.</p>
<p>“What?” Inuyasha blinked, now that the throbbing pain in his balls was starting to fade away. Since he had been clenching his eyes shut, he hadn’t noticed that it was somehow daylight right now. And that they were no longer in the dark shed. “The fuck?” he exclaimed, as he hopped to his feet, wincing slightly. Incredulously, he spun around, staring in every direction. </p>
<p>The well was right there, and it looked just like the well that had been in the shed. It had the same bricks, and probably the same color, for it had been so dark he hadn’t been able to make out that particular detail earlier. But it was definitely the same exact well, that he was certain of. So he hopped onto the ledge and leapt down. About fifteen feet below, his feet made contact with the dirt floor. Confused, he leapt out and then right back in again, only to land on the dirt, still only fifteen feet down.</p>
<p>“What just happened?” Kagome asked nervously, when Inuyasha emerged and stayed outside the well. “You were falling too, right? Seemed like it lasted forever?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, felt like I got sucked into a vacuum,” Inuyasha grimaced. “Thought the hole was going to go on until the end of time. Why are we outside? This isn’t the Higurashi shrine’s land. There are no buildings or houses anywhere. No cityscapes in the far off distance.”</p>
<p>“We’re lost, aren’t we. It had to have been a tunnel, somehow, right? Right? Like to the other side of the Earth?” Kagome asked, her voice rising in panic and confusion.</p>
<p>“Don’t be stupid, if we had gone through the center of the earth, we would be like molten lava right now,” Inuyasha grumbled. He kept turning and staring around, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened. There was literally nothing manmade around, except for the solitary well.</p>
<p>“Well, we didn’t die, or at least I don’t think we did,” Kagome continued to babble. “It had to have been some kind of secret passage then. It’s just our minds playing tricks on us. We didn’t expect to fall in, so our brains freaked out, and made it seem like we were falling for way longer than we actually were. Where are we?” She was getting more frustrated by the second, on the verge of having a mental breakdown.</p>
<p>“I have no fucking idea, but there’s nothing out here. There are no villages or roads, or anything,” Inuyasha replied. His ears twitched every which way, in hopes of picking up the sounds of some sort of modern civilization.</p>
<p>“Let’s just walk, then,” Kagome said shakily. “We just ended up in some farmer’s field, I’m sure. All we have to do is keep walking, and we will come across a road or something, that will lead us back to Tokyo. Or a big city.” She paused, turning every which way, before pointing to a valley. “Let’s go there.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha was at a loss of anything better to suggest. “Fine.” He strode off quickly, with Kagome practically running to keep up. How the hell they ended up in some rural farmland, he had no idea. It was the most bizarre thing that had ever happened to him. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he frowned when he saw there was zero signal. They had to really be out in the middle of nowhere, he figured.</p>
<p>An hour later, they finally encounter a narrow dirt road. “See, I knew this was the way!” Kagome exclaimed happily. “Now all we have to do is stay on the road, and we will make it to a village or city or something.”</p>
<p>They continued their trek, as the road wove around the hills, up and down valleys, and through the trees. It was more of a path than a road, Inuyasha had noted, and quite overgrown in spots. The further they walked, the narrower it got. Eventually, the sand tapered off as more and more pebbles covered the path, until it disappeared into the tall grass.</p>
<p>“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Inuyasha yelled, when he realized the path abruptly ended. Whirling around, he pointed to the grass ahead. “This goes nowhere. We walked for who knows how many hours, only to get us nowhere!”</p>
<p>“That can’t be!” Kagome wailed. Pushing past Inuyasha, she glanced around desperately, only to affirm what he said was true. The path had ended. “Oh my god. We are so lost. My phone won’t work either. I’ve been checking every few minutes to see if there’s signal, and absolutely nothing. We can’t even call for help. How is anybody going to find us all the way out here?”</p>
<p>“I would have found the nearest big city by now, if I wasn’t stuck walking so slow, because of you,” Inuyasha grumbled. He was feeling extremely cranky, and just wanted to go home and grab a cold one. Reaching for his pocket, he grabbed another cigarette and lit up. The fact that he only had a couple left only contributed to his grouchiness.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, for not having your long legs and demon speed!” Kagome yelled back. “This is turning into the worst birthday ever. I swear, this had better be a dream. Or some kind of sick prank. After all my birthday <em>is</em> on April Fool’s Day.”</p>
<p>“It’s not a dream,” Inuyasha let out a coarse laugh, as he shook his head in disbelief. “It feels way too real.” He knelt down and clawed at the ground, nose twitching at the scent of fresh earth and burrowing insects. The sun was still high in the sky, on its arc to the west, warming his skin pleasantly.</p>
<p>“Well, bad dream or not, I want to go home,” Kagome said with despair. For the umpteenth time, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. As soon as she was back at her house, she was going to take a nice long soak in the tub and forget this had ever happened. “I’m going back to the well.”</p>
<p>“There’s nothing there,” Inuyasha told her, rolling his eyes. “I jumped into it twice, and the dirt floor is right there. It’s pointless to go back to it.”</p>
<p>Kagome clenched her fists out of frustration. “Well, there’s nowhere else to go. Maybe it just closed temporarily, somehow. We’ve been walking forever down this path, and it led to nowhere. So might as well turn around and go back the way we came, since there is nothing but forest ahead!”</p>
<p>“There’s no point in going back that way!” Inuyasha argued. “I don’t think anybody has been on this path in years. Look, no footprints, other than ours. I can’t even pick up anybody’s scent! We should keep moving forward. At least we might encounter something new or helpful that way.”</p>
<p>“Why? You’re the one that got us into this mess in the first place!” Kagome hissed. “This is all your fault. You were the one who tried making me go to the well in the shed!”</p>
<p>“I didn’t try to make you do anything! All I said was there was something inside the well, and I was trying to figure out what it was!” Inuyasha argued back loudly. “Don’t you dare blame any of this on me! It’s not like I’m the one who teleported us here, or whatever that was!”</p>
<p>“Fine, so you didn’t do it, technically!” Kagome yelled back. “But I’m still going back the way we came!”</p>
<p>“Fine, you do that! I’m going this way, so at least I can get some peace and quiet, and actually think!” Inuyasha yelled. “Plus, I can go way faster without you to slow me down!” With that, he gritted his teeth and took off, leaping and bounding across the wide open space. It was rare that he got to use his hanyou abilities to full extent, for it was frowned upon in the populated areas. Out here, there was nothing or nobody to stop him, so he raced on, ears flattened as he became nothing more than a blur.</p>
<p>Still fuming, Kagome turned on her heel and headed back down the long, lonely road, as she had declared she would. Inuyasha was long gone, and for the better. They were often at odds with each other, and in times of immense stress like this, they were clashing harder than normal. </p>
<p>It was easy enough to stay on the path for it widened out as she progressed. On the way here she had mainly just been paying attention to following Inuyasha, rather than the path itself. Dejectedly, she ambled on, her feet sore from however far they had walked. Although she was accustomed to walking long distances in the city, it seemed a lot easier there than this long hike through nature. It was quite warm out by now, but her attire kept her cool enough, with the wind being able to hit her skin.</p>
<p>As Kagome continued on, she suddenly realized that she was going to have no idea whatsoever where they had encountered the path in the first place. Since the well wasn’t on any actual path, she wasn’t going to directly come across it. She hadn’t paid much attention to the little details in the scenery, so she suddenly became very much aware that she had no idea if she had gone way too far, or if she was still coming up on the well.</p>
<p>Panic started to set in, and she was starting to regret not insisting that Inuyasha stick with her, or that she follow him in the direction he wanted to go. What was done was done, though, so she gritted her teeth and kept walking. The sun was getting lower on the horizon, and she still hadn’t found a town or anything. “Inuyasha?” she yelled, yet again. No answer. </p>
<p>Tears began to fall, and feeling utterly defeated and exhausted, she dropped down on a large boulder to sit and cry. Her throat was burning, for she hadn’t had anything to drink since dinner, which was however many hours ago. </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>After they initially parted ways, Inuyasha had sped full force off towards a mountain range in the distance. There was a dense forest at its base, with rich, evergreen trees. He figured there would be a water source in the general vicinity, since the landscape there was greener overall, and not just the trees.</p>
<p>While it was exhilarating to be able to race as fast as possible and leap as high as he could, it also struck him a bit eerie. Something was wrong, and he could sense it. There was nobody around anywhere, and the air was so pure and clean, it was like he was breathing for the first time. For hours, he raced along, enjoying the deep lungfuls, as he tried to make sense of what had happened.</p>
<p>Then a sudden thought had him slam on the breaks. The air was pure and clean. As in there was no traces of any kind of pollution, whatsoever. Even when he lived in Montana, which was extremely vast and wide open, he could detect traces of fuel, from far off cars, planes, and trains. There was none of that here at all. Considering how far he had travelled, he should have picked up on some sort of scent of pollution, as the wind always carried it far and wide. The air was completely pure.</p>
<p>Inuyasha frowned, and leapt high up in the branches of the tallest tree he could find. There were no cities or towns as far as the eye could see. “I guess we must be really, really remote,” he muttered under his breath. He sniffed the wind again, and remained confused as to how clean it smelled. </p>
<p>The sun was going to start to set in a bit, and he continued to race on. He found a river and followed it, keeping high in the trees as he went, in hopes of spotting some lights in the distance somewhere as the sky started to take on various shades of orange. Eventually he detected something, but it wasn’t civilization, it was youkai.</p>
<p>Pausing to perch on a thick branch, he concentrated his senses to the ground, where he picked up the traces of a group of youkai. They were animalistic, running around on all fours, with thick round bodies. “Boar youkai?” he wondered, as he observed them crashing through the thick brush, squealing loudly at each other. It was strange, for all the youkai he had ever met were very human-like, or very domesticated if they resembled animals. The last of the wild animal youkai were have said to die out about a hundred years ago, as a result of being poached by humans.</p>
<p>Another scent caught his attention, so he turned and sniffed the wind. There was another youkai coming, but it was by itself and the only one of its kind. <em>‘Feline,’</em> he thought warily, and not the nice housecat kind of kitty. It was approaching the boars slowly, which still seemed oblivious to its presence. A short while later, he heard horrible screeching, and the scent of blood, as the cat must have successfully captured its prey.</p>
<p>Inuyasha continued on, as the cat ate its dinner, and started to worry as he spotted a pack of something, racing across a field. It was dangerous out here, he realized, his heart thudding suddenly in his chest. <em>‘Kagome.’</em></p>
<p>Spinning around, as he realized he needed to get back to her immediately, Inuyasha raced off faster than ever before, following his own scent back the way he had come. Unfortunately, he had come quite a long ways, but eventually he caught up to the point where his and Kagome’s scents took on different directions. At least she was a slow human, so she shouldn’t have gotten very far, he thought, as he followed the path. She hadn’t gone off the beaten path like he had, so it was easier to follow where she went.</p>
<p>She wasn’t alone, he realized, his lip lifting in a grimace, as he caught scent of some kind of youkai trail following hers closely. It stayed right next to her path, crisscrossing over it now and then. It wasn’t anything he could recognize, but he doubted it was friendly, for it had a vile stench. </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Kagome stumbled in the dark, cursing the fact that she didn’t have any sort of light. Her phone battery had died a while ago, and she literally had nothing else on her. It was getting chilly, so she shivered as she walked, rubbing her arms to try and warm up a bit. The path had entered a forest a while ago, and it was dark and creepy in here. Unsure of whether it would be best to keep walking to get out of there as soon as possible, or crawl off to the side and hide, she had decided to keep walking. There were a lot of noises in the forest, and she just wanted to get out.</p>
<p>The brush rustled loudly behind her, making her jump. “Who’s there?” she called out in a shaky voice, as she turned around, straining her eyes to see. The light of the moon, if there even was one tonight, couldn’t penetrate the thick canopy. Another rustle off to her right had her spinning and nearly tripping over a root that was popped up in the middle of the trail. Panic set in, and she upped the pace, hoping that she wasn’t heading deeper into the forest.</p>
<p>Suddenly, several eyes lit up in the darkness, and she could vaguely make out a long, slithering shape, that was rapidly approaching her. Automatically, she screamed, and turn to run as fast as possible. A split second later, she was on her hands and knees, as she tripped over some sort of tree root or rock in the path. Ignoring the throbbing pain, she forced herself up and tried to keep running. The thing, whatever it was, started to chase her, arcing off the side of the path to disappear into the thick foliage. It wasn’t running away from her, she knew, even though she couldn’t hear it at the moment. Perhaps that was because her heart was hammering so loudly, it was about to make her go deaf.</p>
<p>Out of nowhere, a round head with five red eyes appeared right in front of her, a loud clicking noise coming from its mouth. She screamed again, as it rushed toward her. As she turned on her heel to try and escape, there was a sudden intense pain on her hip, making her scream even louder in agony. In the blink of an eye, her entire world turned upside down, literally, as she was flung around like a ragdoll while hanging from the monster’s mouth. <em>‘This is how I die,’</em> she thought, before blacking out.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Die</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Inuyasha crashed through the branches, as he heard Kagome's piercing scream. <em>'She's close,'</em> he thought. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, as he burst forward in panic, towards where the scream originated from. The youkai aura was extremely strong there, and he could see the creature now. It was huge, about thirty feet long at least, and had a segmented body with dozens of legs. It reminded him of a giant centipede.</p>
<p>The demon was shaking its head back and forth, which caught Inuyasha's attention. His heart all but stopped when he saw that the creature had Kagome firmly in its mouth. The scent of human blood hit his nose, infuriating him. "Fuck!" Inuyasha snarled, as he leapt straight at the giant bug. Never in his entire life had he seen something so grotesque, and never before had he actually fought something like this.</p>
<p>Without a second thought, Inuyasha slashed at the youkai's neck, back, or whatever you would call it, with his claws. As he landed on the beast, it stopped thrashing Kagome around, and turned to look at him with her hanging limply from its mouthpieces. Inuyasha attacked again, his claws ripping deep into the creature. Foul smelling blood, or goo of some sort, started to ooze out of the deep gashes he put into it.</p>
<p>Now angry, the creature opened its mouth to let out some kind of roar, dropping Kagome in the process. Thankfully its head wasn't too high off of the ground at the moment, so she should be fine, he thought. First priority was killing the fucking thing, because if he was to check on her first, which he desperately wanted to do, he knew it would just attack and try to kill them both.</p>
<p>As Inuyasha used his claws to slash again, the creature slithered its body out of the way at the last second, its head lurching forward, in an attempt to bite Inuyasha from his offside. Inuyasha somehow managed to dodge, rolling under it and using his claws on both hands to rip open the underbelly. Horrible screeching noises filled the air, and he immediately found himself drenched in nastiness.</p>
<p>"Fucking die!" Inuyasha yelled, as the creature continued to writhe around. It had a very agile body, much like a snake, and he couldn't tell from which direction the head would come from next. The damn thing was trying to stab at him with its feet, in an effort to knock him away. For the next few minutes, he put more huge gashes in the youkai using his claws. Somehow he managed to get on top of its back, and tried to reach out and slash the back of its head, only to find himself bucked off a moment later.</p>
<p>He landed lightly, mostly on his feet, and just as he was about to lurch off the ground, he found himself being hurtled into a tree trunk. Being so focused on trying to get to the head, he had neglected to pay attention to the other end, and apparently it liked to use its tail section as some kind of battering ram. This time, Inuyasha was flat on his back, choking to catch his breath.</p>
<p>Another roar filled the air, as the creature took advantage of Inuyasha's prone position, and zoomed in on him, five eyes glowing in the dark, above a mouthful of tiny, but sharp teeth.</p>
<p>Just as the youkai was about to take a big bite out of Inuyasha, he grabbed its jaws at the very last second, and stopped them from closing on him. It was a massive struggle, even for him, as he forced the jaws apart. If not for his youkai strength, he would never have stood a chance, as this monster was strong. Trying to get him off, the bug started shaking its head, but Inuyasha had a firm grip. Using his unnatural strength, he managed to rip the lower jaw clean off.</p>
<p>With the youkai no longer being able to bite him, he was a bit relieved, but it still showed no signs of giving up, and somehow managed to shake him free. Inuyasha landed on his feet and immediately leapt straight back to it, launching himself directly at it's head. Making a fist, he aimed straight for the weird glowing orb that he hadn't noticed before in the center of it's face, and slammed it straight down, effectively shattering the skull and pulverizing whatever brain it had in there, which probably wasn't very big. Bodily fluids, chunks of flesh, and shards of purple fragments flew everywhere.</p>
<p>The threat was finally gone, leaving Inuyasha free to rescue Kagome. He spotted her laying off to the side, and with one leap, he was kneeling next to her, trying not to panic. "Kagome!" he burst out, as he saw her eyes were shut and mouth open. She didn't respond, due to being unconscious, but he could tell she was still alive, as he checked her vitals.</p>
<p>Cradling her head in his hand, he brushed her hair away with his other, and called her name again. This time her eyes fluttered a bit, much to his relief. She tried to speak, but he had absolutely no idea what she was trying to say, for it sounded like gibberish.</p>
<p>"Kagome," Inuyasha repeated, as he stared hard at her face. All annoyance at her from earlier had completely faded away at this point. "It's ok now. I'm here. I got you. Stay with me."</p>
<p>Suddenly Kagome gave him a more wide-eyed look, as her face contorted in pain. "I-it hu-urts," she choked out, following it up with more words he couldn't make out.</p>
<p>"Shit!" Inuyasha said, remembering how she had been in the youkai's mouth. He glanced down quickly, noticing several punctures on her side. It was pretty easy to see everything, since her damn top was so short. There wasn't as much blood as he would have expected, for most of the holes were quite small, like punctures, but he was concerned about how deep they could potentially be. There was one larger wound that gave him a good bit more concern, almost two inches across, and bleeding significantly more than the others.</p>
<p>Kagome let out a strangled cry when Inuyasha brushed his hand over her side, trying to wipe some of the thick, goopy saliva off of her. It was only partially effective, since he was even more of a mess himself. When his hand hit her hip, her lower body bucked reflexively, as she shrieked in pain again, even louder.</p>
<p>As she moved, there was just enough light for him to see that something was sticking out of her. It was a tooth or fang, he realized. Cursing under his breath, he positioned himself so that he was sitting on her upper thighs. To keep her still, he put one hand on her sternum, pinning her upper body as well. "Forgive me for this, Kagome, but I need to pull this tooth out," he told her. Not that she was listening, for she was doing nothing but struggling beneath him and half sobbing half moaning.</p>
<p>Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha carefully removed the serrated tooth, doing his best to pull it out just as it went in, so that he didn't do any more damage than it had done already. He felt terrible doing it, and knew it was risky to remove it in itself, but he also knew that it was going to continue doing damage to her if it stayed imbedded, for the chance that the creature was venomous was high.</p>
<p>Off in the distance, Inuyasha could hear howls and yips getting increasingly louder, signaling that they were going to have more company again very soon. They had to get out of here now. Scooping Kagome up in his arms, he cradled her in front of him, before leaping high into the trees. It was a little harder to navigate through them, without having the use of his hands, but he had no choice.</p>
<p>Kagome had passed out again in his arms as he sped through the canopy. He had absolutely no idea where to go, but he decided he would figure it out as they went. There was a river nearby, he noted, as his ears picked up the sounds of the rapids. The rapids were still downstream from where they currently were, so he leapt down to the ground and headed in the direction of the water. If there was a stream, it would likely lead to some kind of town or farm.</p>
<p>Inuyasha laid Kagome down on the river bank, feeling grateful that there was enough moonlight right now for him to try and get a better look at her. When he set her down, she came to once again. "W-water," she croaked, turning her head in the direction of the river.</p>
<p>"You want water?" Inuyasha asked. He had drank from a stream earlier, but had no bottle or cup to fill up, so he scooted her closer to the river's edge. Using his hand, he scooped up some water and had her drink it that way. When she had her fill, he lowered her back down flat on the ground.</p>
<p>"Kagome, I need to get a better look at your bite wounds," Inuyasha told her. She was still conscious, for the time being. Before examining her, he washed his hands off as best as he could, and then used some water to wash her side off. Judging by the arc of the teeth, he calculated that her clothes were still covering some of the wounds.</p>
<p>"I need to undo your jeans," Inuyasha told her.</p>
<p>"N-no!" Kagome sputtered, as she wildly grabbed his hands. "D-don't!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha was very thankful for that, as it told him she was able to comprehend what was happening. Gently, he grabbed her wrists and lowered them. "I know you don't want me to, but I need to see where that demon bit you in case there's another tooth fragment stuck. Medical reasons only. Trust me."</p>
<p>When she stopped struggling, he knew she was granting him permission. It was completely weird to him to start unzipping her jeans and pulling them down off the side of her hip a bit, but the gravity of the situation overruled everything else. At least her underwear had a thin enough strap on the side, that he didn't need to ask about pulling those down. The punctures beneath the fabric of her jeans seemed a little more shallow, for they were smaller and less bloody. At least there were no teeth imbedded anywhere else, so he put her jeans back up.</p>
<p>Kagome had calmed down a bit, after he examined her, much to Inuyasha's relief. She wasn't crying, but she was shivering like mad, as it was quite chilly now, in the middle of the night. He supposed all he could do at this point was make a fire, so he grabbed whatever suitable sticks he could locate, while not wandering far from her, and did his best to get a flame going.</p>
<p>Once the fire was big enough to where it wouldn't just blow out if he stepped away, Inuyasha scooped Kagome up and lay her down close to it. She soon stopped shivering, for the most part, and fell asleep, but there was no way in hell he was going to go to bed, so he just sat there on a log, staring at the dancing flames until dawn began to lighten the horizon.</p>
<p>Inuyasha was starving, and knew that if they were going to eat, he was going to have to kill something. Picking up a rock, he sat and waited silently, for the forest and meadow had a lot of squirrel and rabbits around. He didn't have to wait too long, before spotting a large rabbit hop across the grass. Raising his fist, he threw the rock as hard as he could, aiming for its head. He got lucky and killed it on the first try.</p>
<p>"Kagome, can you eat?" Inuyasha asked, when she started to stir. The rabbit was currently cooking over the open flame. In response, Kagome nodded, and then pointed to the river. "Do you need more water?" he asked. When she nodded again, he scooped up some more and brought it over for her to drink.</p>
<p>"Hurts," Kagome managed to say, once the water cooled her throat. It hurt so much to speak right now. She was hungry though, and eyed the small rodent that was on a skewer above the fire.</p>
<p>"I know. I'm going to try and get you to a doctor, or something," Inuyasha told her. Where he would find one, was anybody's guess. At this point, he was just desperate to find another person, no matter who they were. Perhaps they could send him in the right direction. As soon as the rabbit was cooked thoroughly, he tore off some small pieces and handed them to Kagome, for she was able to feed herself.</p>
<p>After the fire was stomped out, Inuyasha gathered her up in his arms again, for it was clear she wasn't capable of walking. At least it was daylight now, so he could see her clearly. The bite marks weren't bleeding, but the skin around them was very red and raw looking. She definitely needed some kind of medical help.</p>
<p>With no idea which direction would be best, Inuyasha decided to follow the river downstream. As he ran, he glanced down at the girl in his arms now and then. She was quite pale, he noted with a frown. Although she was pale to begin with, her skin had taken on a more ghostly color. "Hang in there, Kagome," he told her, even though she had passed out once more.</p>
<p>That cycle continued, with her gaining consciousness, only to pass out again, several times, as he raced onward. Each time she came to, she seemed more confused and more symptomatic. "Finally!" Inuyasha grumbled, as he the river took him around the side of a cliff. In the distance, he could see about a couple dozen huts.</p>
<p>Inuyasha sped along, this time on the unpaved road that came up near the river. There was a large crop field on his left, with several humans out working in it. They noticed him, and scurried to huddle together, as he ran towards the village. He was elated to finally be around other people, as he was sure one of them would at least be able to tell him how to get to a doctor, if there wasn't one here. As small as this village was, he doubted they had one in residence.</p>
<p>Much to Inuyasha's shock, he found himself skidding to a stop when an arrow whizzed by his head, narrowly missing his hair. "What the fuck?" he exclaimed.</p>
<p>Ahead of him, standing in the center of the path, stood a cross looking young woman, dressed in traditional miko garb. She was holding a bow with another arrow notched and pointing straight at him. "Die, demon!" she called out, as she shot a second arrow his way. This time he felt a bit of an aura around the arrow, which had a soft pink glow around it.</p>
<p>"Hey, knock that shit off!" Inuyasha yelled back at her. "What the hell is wrong with you? It's illegal to just shoot people, you know!"</p>
<p>"You're no person, you're a youkai! And it is my duty to protect this village from malicious youkai such as yourself. Now die!" the priestess replied, as she pulled a third arrow from her quiver.</p>
<p>Inuyasha growled, for this was not the kind of encounter he had been expecting. The woman was completely insane, he decided, so there wasn't going to be much luck in reasoning with her. "I need to get my friend to a doctor!" he yelled. Leaping to the left, he managed to avoid the next arrow. "My friend is very sick and she needs medical attention as soon as possible. Where can I find a doctor? Would you just fucking <em>stop</em>!"</p>
<p>"Your friend is of no concern to me. Youkai are not welcome around here. Our healer will not help heal a youkai, or one who consorts with youkai," the miko told him flatly. Her dark eyes followed his movement closely, a frown on her face as she wondered why he didn't just drop the female in his arms and actively attack her.</p>
<p>"She's no demon, she's human!" Inuyasha yelled back. He was losing patience, fast.</p>
<p>"Youkai whores are not welcome here either," the priestess informed him, as she notched another arrow and held her bow at the ready. Normally she would have fired to kill with the very first shot, but there had been a sudden, very strange feeling in her gut the instant she saw the two, that gave her pause. It confused her, but regardless, she still was not about to welcome youkai and their consorts into her village that she was sworn to protect.</p>
<p>Inuyasha growled and stopped leaping about, when the priestess froze in place. "She's not a youkai whore, or any whore, for that matter. She's just a girl, and she's very sick after being attacked by some giant bug youkai. She's just a regular human girl."</p>
<p>The priestess eyed the girl the youkai was holding. Indeed, she was human, but her manner of dress contradicted what he was telling her. It was clearly some kind of trap and she wasn't going to fall for it.</p>
<p>"Kikyo!" a slightly younger, brunette girl, also dressed as a miko yelled, as she ran towards the one with the bow. Inuyasha watched as they conversed, noting how the one with the bow never took her eyes off of him and Kagome. The two girls looked alike in the face, despite the fact that one had brown hair and the other had pin straight jet black hair and the latter being a good bit taller.</p>
<p>"What happened?" the brunette called out warily. "How exactly is she sick?"</p>
<p>"She got bit last night. By some kind of monster centipede looking demon," Inuyasha yelled back. "She can't walk and can barely talk. Half the time she's unconscious and is getting worse."</p>
<p>The miko named Kikyo stared hard at them for several long moments. "If that's the case, and she is simply a human, then she is as good as dead, anyway. She won't even make it to tonight. Might as well let me do her a favor and end it, now. It will be much less painful that way, trust me."</p>
<p>"Never!" Inuyasha snarled at her. Realizing that this village was a total bust, and that this crazy bitch meant business, Inuyasha tightened his grip on Kagome and spun on his heel, racing away from them at top speed. His ears picked up the twang of the bowstring behind him and the soft thump as the arrow embedded into a nearby tree trunk.</p>
<p>The words of the miko played over and over in his head, as fury filled his veins. He was angry at himself, for ditching her, as this whole ordeal would never have happened if he had been there in the first place. A quick glance down at Kagome's face twisted his gut, as he feared the miko's words were true. However, he wasn't going to just give up on her and allow her to be put out of her current misery. He was going to save her. How he was going to do so, he had zero clue.</p>
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  <em>A/N Sorry in advance if there ends up being any plot holes or something that may not make perfect sense. I'll be the first to admit that writing isn't my strongest skill, but hey this is fanfic and it's just for fun, which is the important part. I've written at least 20 chapters so far but will update a little slower now just so I can try and figure out what I want to do for the remainder between that point and the end, which I've already decided on how it will go.</em>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Help</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Feeling defeated, Inuyasha headed back to the stream that flowed near the village. He desperately needed a drink, and figured Kagome would as well. There was a grove of shade trees near the bank, so he stopped there and set her down so that she was sitting with her back against the trunk. She was flushed now, her skin slightly damp. Inuyasha frowned and put his hand to her forehead, realizing that she had a bit of a temperature going on.</p>
<p>"What's my name?" Inuyasha asked, after giving her a handful of water to drink.</p>
<p>In a daze, Kagome just looked at him. "Inuyasha," she mumbled a few moments later. It seemed to him that she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.</p>
<p>"Good, at least you remember me," Inuyasha told her. He brushed her sweaty bangs back again, to see how hot her forehead was. The poor girl did not look good. He peeled away the bandages he had put on her earlier in the day, as he examined her side again, getting worried when he thought it seemed as if the redness was spreading. It was hard to be entirely sure, since he didn't have a pen or anything to mark her flesh with.</p>
<p>As the day progressed, Kagome's condition worsened, as the crazy miko had said it would. Inuyasha grew increasingly fearful, as he replayed Kikyo's words in his head, over and over. Not too far from the village, he had found a hidden cave, so he decided to set up a temporary shelter there. Since it was close to the river, he could go catch some fish, and still keep an eye on the area, in case something or someone came their way. Having been so preoccupied with tending to Kagome, he had forgotten his own hunger until he couldn't handle it any longer.</p>
<p>Even though it was hot out, Kagome had started to shiver, so he started a fire for her just outside the cave, and lay her down near the entrance. He was afraid she would dehydrate, so he cupped more water for her to drink, before heading out to fish. She tried to refuse, but he was insistent. Catching the fish without any sort of pole or bait was interesting, but his youkai reflexes and sharp claws allowed him to snare several decent sized fish of various species.</p>
<p>Kagome was awake when he prepped the fish and put them on the fire. Silently, he watched her while waiting for them to cook. "Hey, you should eat. It will help keep your strength up," he told her. Although she took the fish from him and did eat, he could tell that it was quite the struggle for her. He had no idea if she had heard what Kikyo had said about dying, so he kept his wishes for her to live to himself silently.</p>
<p>Just as Inuyasha was downing the last bit of his fish, Kagome leaned over next to him, coughing for a moment, before vomiting her entire dinner onto the ground beside her. "Sorry," she sobbed. "I can't…I can't…"</p>
<p>"It's ok, Kagome," Inuyasha said quietly. She was gagging and crying, and he felt completely helpless. What the fuck could he even do right now? He knew basic first aid, but was no doctor, and the only people nearby were of no use. His phone had long died, so he couldn't even try to see if this village had any signal. Stepping over the pile of vomit, he picked her up and brought her around to the opposite side of the fire.</p>
<p>Kagome was shaking like a leaf when he lay her down on the ground. Her hands were clutching his shirt, as she held on for dear life. Instead of trying to remove her death grip from his tee, Inuyasha just lay down alongside her. Soon she either fell asleep or passed out, but since she was still shivering and trembling, he just lay there next to her, with the fire behind her back. All he could do right now was stare dully into the flames with ears flattened. He would be lying to himself if he tried to say that he had never dreamed of laying around in this position with her, however the circumstances were all wrong. It wasn't supposed to be this way.</p>
<p>Although Inuyasha had no intention of sleeping, he eventually dozed off, for he had been awake for nearly two whole days at this point. It was a very restless sleep, but at least it was something. When he opened his eyes just before dawn, his first instinct was to panic, as he checked on Kagome worriedly. "Thank fuck you're still alive," he muttered, when he heard her breathing shallowly. She looked no better than the day before, but she had survived the night, despite the miko saying she had no chance.</p>
<p>Fish was on the menu again for breakfast, and although Kagome didn't want to eat, she attempted to at Inuyasha's request. Unfortunately, it was a repeat of last night, and she vomited her meal back up again. Inuyasha felt terrible, and decided he should probably not coerce her to eat, or she was going to dehydrate even faster from puking. So he just gave her as much water as she could take, and then hid her in the back of the cave. There were no traces of much of anything coming in here, likely due to its proximity to a settled area, so he figured he would be able to take a chance and run off for a short while.</p>
<p>Inuyasha had decided he was going to try his luck at that village again again. This time, he was going to approach a little differently. The village was a hostile one, and he didn't want to alert any of the citizens to his presence, so he snuck by the fields, silent as a mouse. Once he made it to the huts, he ducked behind one, as he heard a couple of female voices. They were busy chatting about the sheep, so he snuck around the backside of the building.</p>
<p>Kikyo was off in the distance, bow slung behind her back, with a quiver full of arrows. He wasn't foolish to go anywhere near her, so he ducked down and crept lowly, to avoid being seen. Most likely she would purify him on sight.</p>
<p>Luck was on his side, as most of the population was out in the field right now, since it was time to work the earth and plant seeds. However, he did spot exactly who he wanted to find, and thankfully she was all alone.</p>
<p>The brunette girl from yesterday tried to squeal when Inuyasha clapped a hand to her mouth from behind, using his other arm to grab her and hold her still. "Don't scream. I need to talk to you," he whispered. She couldn't scream, for his hand made sure of that, but there had been the briefest of commotion when he first grabbed her. He froze for a moment, to make sure that nobody was coming to see what was going on.</p>
<p>Still covering her mouth, he kept a wary eye roving about. "The other miko, the one you called Kikyo, said that my friend wouldn't make it through the day yesterday. She's still alive, and I'm not giving up on her. Now, I don't know what the big deal is about you guys hating youkai, but my friend is a human girl and she really needs some medicine."</p>
<p>Inuyasha paused, rotating his ears to make sure they were still undetected. "You said something to her yesterday, and while I have no idea what the hell you said, she seemed to have calmed down. So I'm thinking you're less than a bitch than she is. I have zero interest in hurting you. All I want to do is help my friend get well again. Can you get some medicine for me from the healer?"</p>
<p>The girl nodded, for that was all she could do in response. "Good," Inuyasha continued. "I'm going to let you go, but all I ask is that you go to the healer and get some medicine that will help cure her. Don't let them know why you need it though. Just pretend like you want to know what would work and steal it if you have to. If you do that for me, no harm will come do you. Do you agree to help me out here?"</p>
<p>When she nodded again, Inuyasha slowly released his hand from her mouth, and was very thankful when she didn't scream. He was still on high alert though, for he didn't trust anybody here. "Thank you. Go get the medicine, and then meet me by the shack outside the sheep enclosure, down by the river. Don't tell anybody that I was here, and don't tell anybody what you're doing. Now go!"</p>
<p>The girl hurried off, and Inuyasha got the hell out of there, making sure she didn't see where he went, in case she was planning to alert somebody to his presence. He stayed close enough to keep an eye on her. The girl disappeared into a hut for a few minutes and then emerged, heading in the direction he had told her to go. It appeared that she was being truthful to her word and not raising any alarms.</p>
<p>Inuyasha snuck down to the river, as he had previously searched out an escape route beforehand, in case it came to that. By the time she came into sight, he was standing there waiting for her with crossed arms. "So you spoke to the healer and made sure they gave you the right stuff?" he asked.</p>
<p>The girl shook her head. "No, I didn't speak to anybody. I am the healer, although I'm not fully trained, as my master was recently killed by bandits. We don't have anything that will truly cure her, but this will help a bit. It's the best I can do. However, I can tell you where to go to get stronger medicine that will cure her completely, though."</p>
<p>"I suppose it's better than nothing," Inuyasha grumbled. "Follow me." He started walking, keeping an eye on the girl, as she followed him. Since there was a hill between them and the rest of the village and fields, they were hidden from view. "So me and my friend, we live in Tokyo. Can you tell us how to get back there?"</p>
<p>The girl gave him a curious look. "Tokyo? I've never heard of that place before. It must be really far away."</p>
<p>Inuyasha groaned internally. "Ok, fine. I guess we have a long way to go. Can you at least tell us how to get to the nearest big city?"</p>
<p>"City?" she asked.</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her an odd look. "You know, a place where millions of people live? Never mind." He sighed, for she must really live under a rock or something. "You don't have a phone at all, do you?"</p>
<p>"I don't know. What is a phone?" she asked.</p>
<p>"This?" Inuyasha stopped and turned, pulling his cell phone out. "You might have one that still uses a cord. You know, you talk into it and can speak to somebody on the other side of the world."</p>
<p>"I have never heard of such a thing. It must be a special type of magic," the girl frowned as she eyed him up and down. "You're not from anywhere close by. Your clothes are so strange."</p>
<p>"No, we're kind of far from home, apparently. We just got here a couple of days ago," Inuyasha told her. He was a bit flabbergasted that the girl didn't even know what a fucking phone was. It was probably a waste of time to ask her if she knew of any trains that came remotely close. "So why are you helping us, anyway? Your friend from yesterday was hell bent on killing both of us, when we didn't even do anything. What was that all about?"</p>
<p>"That was my older sister, Kikyo," the girl began. "My name is Kaede, by the way. And yours?"</p>
<p>"Inuyasha," he told her abruptly. "So what's the deal?"</p>
<p>"My sister is very guarded and distrustful around all youkai. It is not my place or business to tell you why, but she has her reasons. Usually I just let her protect the village as need be, from any youkai attacks, but something was different about you. I could sense that your aura was not evil, so I tried to persuade her to stop shooting," Kaede explained.</p>
<p>"Unsuccessfully, apparently," Inuyasha snorted, as he recalled the arrow that chased them when he was retreating. "I have no interest in attacking any of you. I just want my friend to get better so we can go on our merry way home. Now, here's a good place to stop. You sit down right there, and don't move. I'll go get her and bring her to you."</p>
<p>Kaede obliged as Inuyasha darted off. Kagome was still sitting in the cave, exactly where he had left her. She was whimpering a bit in pain, as he scooped her up in his arms. "Hey wench, I got you some medicine. You're going to get better soon enough," he told her.</p>
<p>"Everything hurts!" Kagome managed to cry.</p>
<p>Inuyasha's ears drooped. With her in his arms, he hurried back to where he had left Kaede sitting. He gently placed her on the ground and knelt down next to her to help her sit upright. Kaede's eyes widened when she saw the sickly girl. "Oh, my! She looks to be in pretty bad shape, but at the same time, she is remarkably better off than anybody else who has ever been bit by the centipede demon." By better off, she meant alive, and Inuyasha knew it.</p>
<p>"That's great, so what will this medicine of yours do? And where do we go to get the other medicine that she will also need?" Inuyasha asked. He watched as Kaede felt Kagome's forehead and pulse, and examined her eyes and mouth.</p>
<p>"It will help lower her fever, and take away some of the pain," Kaede told him. "But the venom still courses through her veins." She paused, and watched him for a moment. "You know she isn't just some regular girl, don't you? There is some sort of power in her, and that power is preventing the venom from taking full effect. However she can not control or use her power properly, it seems, thus she remains in this state. Perhaps her power has been sealed. Stronger medicine will be needed in order to completely overcome the venom."</p>
<p>"She has the powers similar to that of a miko, I think, but at the same time they are also different than ours. I suppose that's why she didn't succumb to the venom right away, and she must be getting worse as her powers are weakening, along with her body. You will have to hurry and get her to Jinenji as soon as you can." Under Inuyasha's watchful eye, she moved on to remove the makeshift bandages around Kagome's waist. "Her wounds need cleaning. I can do that for you. While I get everything ready, tell me more about what happened when you got attacked. Usually those youkai prefer to go after humans, and not other youkai, unless they are weaker ones."</p>
<p>Inuyasha's ears drooped, as he griped at himself silently for abandoning her due to their stupid little fight. "Well, she was actually alone when she was attacked initially. I was on my way to catch up to her, and the centipede had already gotten her in its mouth." He grimaced at the memory. "Thankfully it dropped her and started to attack me. I just used my claws on it, and then killed it by punching it in the head. I just aimed for this weird purple orb it had and smashed it's head in."</p>
<p>Kaede froze for a second, her hands in midair, making Inuyasha blink and glance at her in confusion. "Weird purple orb? What kind of weird purple orb?"</p>
<p>"I have no idea," Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders helplessly, wondering what the deal was. "It was purple and glowed a bit. Probably about this big." He held his fingers up to indicate the size. Instead of responding, Kaede merely stared at him with wide eyes. "Hey, girl, you look like you've seen a ghost."</p>
<p>Kaede blinked and let out a shaky breath. "What happened to this orb after you smashed the head in?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha shrugged again. "Probably got smashed along with the skull. I don't know. It wasn't exactly high on my list of things to worry about. Bet it's still there if you want to go take a look. Seriously, why are you acting all freaked out over the mention of this orb? I'd think that's the least important part over the whole ordeal, with my friend being on death's door right now."</p>
<p>"It's the most important part," Kaede told him, her voice suddenly sharp. "I…I need to talk to Kikyo about this." Her lips pressed together in a thin line.</p>
<p>"You need to talk to her about what, exactly?" Inuyasha asked, just as sharp. He leaned over to get a hard look at her face. "You're hiding something."</p>
<p>Kaede shot him a sidelong glance. "Did the youkai have this orb, as you call it, from when you first saw it?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a helpless look. "Hell if I know. I was way more concerned about seeing Kagome hanging from its mouth while it thrashed around. Don't really remember seeing it until I leapt at it that one last time. What's the deal with it anyway? Tell me, now."</p>
<p>"Are you familiar with the Sacred Jewel?" Kaede asked, causing him irritation that she chose to ask yet another odd question rather than answer his damn questions.</p>
<p>"Nope," Inuyasha growled, clenching his fingers a bit. "Does it somehow have to do with what you're acting so fishy about?"</p>
<p>Kaede frowned and turned her attention back to the girl as she worked on cleaning the wounds. She could tell he wasn't lying, and that confused her, because of how well known the Sacred Jewel had been, and how greatly coveted it had been by youkai. Perhaps it would be extremely foolish to discuss the topic with him, but he was such an odd being, so unlike any that she had ever encountered. "The Sacred Jewel was a glowing purple orb. I'm not going to get into details, but it caused a ton of death and destruction. Kikyo was the guardian of the jewel, and eventually she figured out a way to rid the world of it, so that we could be at peace. It's been two years since the jewel had been vanquished from this world, but then I heard her mention it a couple of days ago, when she mentioned having a dream that she was able to feel its aura once again."</p>
<p>"A couple of days," Inuyasha frowned. "We've been here a couple of days. Coincidence?"</p>
<p>"Perhaps," Kaede replied. She kept her gaze down, as she stared at the gash on Kagome's side, while contemplating the newfound information. A sudden thought came to mind, and her head jerked up sharply. "Is it possible that she brought the jewel back here, somehow?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a helpless look. "How the hell would I know? I don't recall her carrying anything…"</p>
<p>"I don't know. Perhaps we will figure it out in time. I am obliged to inform my sister, for if the jewel is back, we are all in grave danger if it falls into the wrong hands." Kaede paused for a bit before letting out a long, painful sigh. "Right now, the main concern is to get Kagome healthy again. I brought three full bottles, as that was all we had. Just have her drink a mouthful twice a day. Here."</p>
<p>Inuyasha held his hand out, when Kaede started to give Kagome the medicine. While the girl seemed nice and helpful, he still didn't trust her enough just yet. "Uh uh. You drink from that bottle, first."</p>
<p>Kaede met Inuyasha's hard stare, making eye contact as she lifted the bottle to her lips and took a large mouthful, for she understood his concerns. She made a horrible face as she swallowed, for it had a terrible taste, but kept it down and showed no ill side effects whatsoever. "I am not my sister," she told him evenly.</p>
<p>"Good. One murderous miko is enough for us," Inuyasha replied curtly. After several long moments passed, he allowed Kagome to drink her first dose.</p>
<p>Kaede smiled at the girl and stood up. "My work here is done. I am pleased I could help her somewhat, but I would make haste and go see Jinenji. He is a big, gentle fellow, half horse demon and half human. Follow the road you came in on to the West, and take the third path to the right. It will be after you pass the canyon. Go down all the way until you see the waterfall on the right, and turn left. His farm will be at the end of that road. Usually he stays there, except when he goes to town to trade goods, once a month."</p>
<p>"Then let's hope he isn't out trading right now," Inuyasha muttered and gave her a curt nod. "Thanks for the help."</p>
<p>He let Kaede walk back off to the village, while he tended to Kagome. She needed more water, for she was quite thirsty with her illness. As soon as she had her fill, he picked her up once again and darted off in a flash, replaying Kaede's directions over and over in his mind.</p>
<p>The one thing she hadn't mentioned was distance. Inuyasha ended up having to stop and find a suitable place to spend the night, for he had exerted himself quite a bit all day. Although Kagome still wasn't able to keep actual food down, he found out, after trying to get her to eat again, she didn't puke her medicine up afterwards. As dusk began, the wild animals and youkai began to yip and run around, and his ears picked up their noises from all directions. He managed to find another cave, and spent the night half awake, as he lay close to Kagome, to keep her warmer with his body heat.</p>
<p>He ended up making it to the farm by midday the next day. At least he hoped it was the right farm, for he was quite sure he had followed her directions as given. There was only one small hut on the farm, and nobody was outside anywhere. The hut was quite dilapidated looking, but still standing.</p>
<p>While Kaede had said that Jinenji was gentle, Inuyasha still wasn't going to let his guard down, and prepared for the worst. He knocked on the door and then backed away a few paces, knees slightly bent in case he needed to leap far away.</p>
<p>A few moments later, the door slowly creaked open. A very cross old woman peeked out. "Get lost!" she shouted, before slamming the door.</p>
<p>"Oh for fucks sake," Inuyasha growled. He did not come all this way only to be turned down immediately. "I need to see Jinenji! It's an emergency!" he yelled loudly.</p>
<p>There was silence for several long minutes, and the door did not open again. Inuyasha shouted impatiently, repeating his request to see Jinenji. Eventually, the door started to open again, with the old crank still there. "Why do you need to see my son? He hasn't done anything to hurt you."</p>
<p>"What?" Inuyasha blinked in confusion. Was everybody out here completely batshit crazy? "I was sent here to talk to him, because my friend is very sick, and needs medicine. I was told that he could help her, that his youkai medicine was strong enough to kill the poison that is keeping her sick."</p>
<p>Inuyasha's ears perked up when he heard a deeper voice from inside asking the old woman to get out of the way. She turned around and griped at him for a moment, before opening the door widely and stepping aside. A very large, very ugly youkai emerged from the hut. He was so tall he had to crawl on all fours to exit through the door frame. It was clear he was part horse demon, for his oddly shaped face very much resembled an equine influence.</p>
<p>"I am Jinenji," he spoke. He was rather slow moving and slow talking as well. Inuyasha stared at him as he eyed the girl in his arms. "Come inside, please."</p>
<p>Cautiously, Inuyasha stepped inside at the invitation.</p>
<p>"Let me see her," Jinenji requested, as he gestured to a mat on the floor. Inuyasha carried her over and laid her down, taking a seat on the floor next to her. She had passed out again, and didn't regain consciousness as he moved her around. He kept a close eye as Jinenji started his examination. Inuyasha's ears flattened when he saw just how much the redness on her side had spread, for it was now covering half of her midsection. The bite marks had darkened a bit as well.</p>
<p>"She was bit by a centipede demon, a couple of days ago," Inuyasha told him. Two days? Or was it three? He had to recalculate in his mind, for the recent events had been a bit of a stressful blur in his mind. "I was given medicine by a miko, and it helped some, but she said you would have more powerful medicine that would actually cure her."</p>
<p>Jinenji blinked his huge eyes, as he continued to evaluate the young girl. "She is strong. I can help."</p>
<p>"You expect my son to heal this girl for free?" the old woman asked crossly. She came over to peer down at them, with a distasteful look on her face.</p>
<p>Inuyasha opened and closed his mouth. "I…" He only had credit cards in his wallet, but something told him that wouldn't suffice as payment out here. "I don't have any money, but I can do work in exchange, or something. Whatever you need me to do." He didn't like the glint in her eye that lit up as he said that last bit.</p>
<p>"I'm only letting him help her, because you're a hanyou, just like my son," she informed him. "The humans and the youkai all shun us, and torment us at every chance they get. Hanyou don't belong anywhere, as I'm sure you know. You're not like my son though, I can tell. He would never hurt a fly if his life depended on it."</p>
<p>"I'm not sure how much of a compliment that is," Inuyasha told her dryly. He turned his attention back to Kagome. "How long will it take for her to get better?"</p>
<p>"Maybe several days," Jinenji replied. He pushed himself off the ground and ambled over to some cupboards. "The medicine will take a while to make as well. But I have a paste to put on her punctures to draw the venom out."</p>
<p>"Do you need to put it on all of her punctures?" Inuyasha asked the other hanyou. When he nodded, Inuyasha frowned. "There are some punctures under her jeans. You know, her pants? The clothes on her legs?" he pointed to Kagome's lower half.</p>
<p>"Mother, please undress her," Jinenji turned to the older woman, who just gave them all a haughty look. However she obliged and knelt down in front of Kagome. When it was clear that she didn't know how to work the button and zipper, Inuyasha took over and then backed away when he was shooed off. It was women's work, the old woman told him.</p>
<p>There was nothing for Inuyasha to do now, so he took a seat on the floor and leaned against the wall of the hut. They had moved Kagome to just out of his sight, for some privacy, but he kept his ears trained on the trio to try and keep track of what was going on.</p>
<p>Eventually, the old woman emerged from around the corner with Kagome's clothes in her hands. "I'm going to wash these. You come with me. There's an entire field we need plowed. Jinenji was going to do it like usual, but since you're here…"</p>
<p>"I guess I have a debt to pay," Inuyasha sighed. He lightly leapt to his feet and followed the old woman outside. She pointed out the equipment to him, and where he had to work, and sent him off. After chastising him a bit first, for having to explain how to use the equipment in the first place. The work was a bit tiring, even for him, but he managed to do the entire field by evening.</p>
<p>"How is she doing?" Inuyasha asked, upon coming back into the hut that evening.</p>
<p>"Better. She sleeps," Jinenji told him. "She needs a lot of rest. I will put fresh herbs on her three times a day and make her drink the medicine tonight. You can come see her."</p>
<p>Inuyasha followed the horse hanyou to behind the shoji screen, where Kagome was laying on her back on a futon. They had dressed her in a kimono, and she had a thick blanket laying on her lower half. He dropped down to kneel next to her and peered down at her face. She was still ghostly pale, but not as flushed as before. "Can I see her bite marks?" he looked up at the hanyou healer.</p>
<p>Jinenji quickly pulled the side Kagome's kimono wide open, revealing her entire torso from her lower waist up. He immediately found himself letting out a strangled choke as he realized that they had removed her bra as well. It was just wrong seeing her like that without her knowledge or consent. "What the hell are you doing? Cover her up!" he snapped, as he grabbed the sides of the kimono in haste.</p>
<p>"I thought you asked to see her bite marks?" Jinenji tilted his head at the hanyou next to him in confusion, blinking his oversized eyes.</p>
<p>"Yes, but I didn't mean strip her naked in the process!" Inuyasha hissed back. "Do it without flashing her to the world!"</p>
<p>From the other room, he heard a loud cackle. "Never seen a naked girl before, have you, boy?"</p>
<p>"Of course I have! Just not <em>her!I" </em>Inuyasha shot back grouchily. He could feel his face slightly flaming, so he refused to look at Jinenji, or in the direction of his mother's voice.</p>
<p>"Hm. I had figured she was a wife of yours, or <em>something</em>," the old woman commented, with a loud snort.</p>
<p>"We are only friends," Inuyasha retorted shortly. "Now, keep your hands off and let me see her wounds myself." He reached back for the side of the kimono that he had yanked closed, and carefully pulled it to the side, making sure to actually keep her covered. The punctures on her side were covered with thick paste and leaves, so he couldn't actually see them, but at least the redness covering her side around them had faded a bit. Satisfied for now, Inuyasha closed her kimono and stood up. "She looks better. I hope there's no pain."</p>
<p>He could hear the sound of stirring and then the clink as she set the spoon down in the pot, followed by approaching footsteps.</p>
<p>"You! Get out of my house with those filthy clothes!" the old woman scolded a second later, as she finally lay eyes on him. "You're tracking dirt all over the place and I just did the floor this morning! Now you'll clean it up after you go take a bath! This isn't a stable, you know. I suppose I'll be doing your laundry as well, in addition to all of my other chores."</p>
<p>"Oh," Inuyasha said intelligently, as he suddenly realized just how dirty he was, and that he had in fact left a bit of a trail throughout the hut. "I'll take a bath, but I don't have any other clothes to wear."</p>
<p>The old woman threw her hands up and disappeared for a moment, before returning with a pale yellow kimono. "This will have to do, I suppose. Now get out of my home and go wash up, or you'll be sleeping with the pigs tonight!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha obliged, for he had no choice, and headed down to the stream to bathe. It was nighttime and chilly, so he washed as fast as he could in the cold stream, hoping that he was getting all of the dirt off successfully, for it wasn't like he could see any sort of reflection in the water with the moon hidden by clouds. The kimono he was given was rather oversized, for it was one of Jinenji's. Never having worn a kimono before, he felt a bit silly as he tied the sash around his waist and gathered his dirty clothes to bring back.</p>
<p>Back at the hut, Inuyasha headed to lay on the floor near Kagome, so he could keep a watchful eye on her. The other two went to bed on their side of the hut, and soon he could hear them both snoring loudly. Unable to sleep himself, he watched Kagome, and noticed that she was still shivering a bit, despite the blanket. Since the futon she was given was quite large, for it must have belonged to Jinenji, Inuyasha decided to move her over a bit so that he could lay on it next to her on his back with his arms folded under his head.</p>
<p>There was room for both of them under the blanket, so he dared to cover himself partially, leaving most of it bundled up around his friend, as she needed it more. Thankfully her shivering came to a stop after several minutes, as his body heat helped warm the space under the blanket. Now that she was sleeping more soundly, he found himself dozing off soon after.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Friends?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few days passed by, and Inuyasha was happy to see Kagome's condition improve drastically. To help her rest and heal internally, Jinenji had given her medicine that acted as a sedative, so she was basically unconscious constantly. His mother kept Inuyasha busy by dictating chores and heavy labor, which he wasn't all that fond of, but gave no objection. It was more than fair, he felt, as the horse hanyou had literally been his only hope at saving Kagome's life.</p>
<p>"Say, Jinenji, can you give us directions to Tokyo, once Kagome wakes up, and we can be on our way?" Inuyasha asked. He swung the ax over his shoulder and straightened up, wiping sweat from his brow with a grimy forearm. There was still a lot of logs to split, but he was making it through the raw material quite rapidly. His current task was preparing the wood so that he could repair and fortify the shed, so that Jinenji and his mother didn't have to worry about it collapsing in the near future, and to help stop the leaks whenever it rained. Chopping wood was better than digging through the dirt, he thought.</p>
<p>"I don't know of this Tokyo place you speak of," Jinenji told him, blinking oddly.</p>
<p>'<em>Of course you don't,</em>' Inuyasha thought with exasperation. "Ok, so what about Kyoto? Osaka? Nagoya?" he started rattling off other major metropolises.</p>
<p>"Osaka I know. I can tell you how to get there," Jinenji cut in. "There are a lot of people there. I go buy supplies at the markets in Osaka."</p>
<p>"Great. We will go there as soon as Kagome is all healed and capable of making the trip. I'm glad finally somebody knows where we need to go. You've been the most helpful person we've met so far. Not that we've met a lot of people here in the first place, but the ones we have met just wanted to kill us," Inuyasha told him.</p>
<p>"It is a sad world," Jinenji told him quietly. Over the past few days, he had grown a bit fond of the smaller silver-haired hanyou, despite his often standoffish temperament. As hanyou, they were both alike yet so completely different. "Sometimes I wish I was never born. All I have is my mother, and people hate her because of me. I ruin her life."</p>
<p>"Your mother loves you very much. She would be sad if you were never born. And if you had never been born, then there wouldn't have been anybody to save Kagome's life," Inuyasha told him, struck by a deep pang of sympathy. He missed his mother greatly, but didn't want to talk about the topic right now. Turning his attention back to the logs, he raised his ax high above his head and swung it down in a graceful arc.</p>
<p>A few more days passed by, with Kagome rapidly recovering. Jinenji stopped giving her the sedative, but she still spent a lot of time sleeping. Since Inuyasha was quite good at catching game, he had also spent a lot of time stocking up on meats for Jinenji's mother to store and cook. There would be plenty to get them through until next spring, he thought proudly. The old woman was still a bit grumpy, but he had noticed she gave him less attitude than when they first met. She still wasn't entirely friendly, but that was just how she was, he supposed.</p>
<p>To Inuyasha's surprise and delight, Kagome struggled to push herself up into a sitting position when Inuyasha sat down next to her with freshly cooked food. She was so weak that she couldn't make it the whole way without his help. "I'm starving," she told him, eyes glazing over as she eyed the plate full of stewed meat.</p>
<p>"Not at all surprised. Thought I heard thunder when I was out hunting earlier. Turns out it was the sound of your stomach growling. Thought it was going to scare all the animals away before I could catch something for dinner," Inuyasha snickered at her.</p>
<p>Kagome managed to glare at him. "Shut up!" she started to laugh, which resulted in a coughing fit.</p>
<p>"You haven't eaten anything in well over a week now," Inuyasha informed her, as she all but grabbed a big handful of meat from the plate upon recovering. He was thrilled to see she had a healthy appetite now, but frowned as he noticed how gaunt she looked. The kimono was big on her, but he could still tell from her face alone. "You look like you lost way too much weight. I hope you can keep the food down this time. Just don't overstuff yourself to the point where you end up having to throw up since that's counterproductive."</p>
<p>"I should be fine," Kagome choked out between mouthfuls. She had no idea what she was eating, but it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. Perhaps it was due to her being absolutely famished. They ate silently, for Kagome was too focused on stuffing her mouth to uphold a conversation. Eventually she reached the point where she was starting to feel uncomfortable and slightly nauseas, so she decided that would be enough for one sitting.</p>
<p>"What happened? Where am I?" she asked, blinking as she looked around the strange room, now that the food didn't have her full attention. It was quite bare and unfurnished, save for a shoji screen, which blocked her view of the rest of the place.</p>
<p>"You got bit by a centipede demon and almost died. I was able to get some help and sent out here, where a horse hanyou named Jinenji lives. He's the one responsible for saving your life. I think he's out by the river with his mom right now, but he will be here soon so you can actually meet him," Inuyasha explained. He watched her closely, for she had eaten an impressive amount of food, and thankfully showed no signs of puking it all back up. However she did look somewhat dazed again.</p>
<p>"Ok. Maybe later. I'm tired," Kagome told him. Her eyelids suddenly felt extremely heavy, and a slight chill made her shiver. "I may just take a nap soon." She dropped back on her elbows and then lay flat on her back once again.</p>
<p>"That's fine. You still need your rest," Inuyasha told her. He watched her for a moment and noticed she didn't close her eyes yet. "Mind if I take a look at your bite wounds? They're under your kimono."</p>
<p>"Where are they at?" Kagome raised her head a bit to look at him. She had no memory of the attack or what had happened after it whatsoever. Right now her entire body felt somewhat numb and weird, but there wasn't any actual pain, even as she moved.</p>
<p>Inuyasha pointed to her side. "Right there. You had a few punctures in an arc above your hip."</p>
<p>"Sure, go ahead, if they are right there," Kagome sighed. She was too tired now, and didn't really care about anything else but sleep.</p>
<p>With her permission, Inuyasha pulled the side of her kimono open, while she clutched the kimono at her chest in her fist, keeping that half closed for him. He hadn't seen them since Jinenji initially showed him. Earlier today Jinenji had said that she was finally able to go without any bandages.</p>
<p>As he got a good look at her waist, he frowned at the way her ribs were jutting out. "They look a thousand times better, but goddamn, you really did lose way too much weight. I guess I'll need to keep you extra well-fed for a while." He pulled her kimono closed. The bite wounds were only little pink marks now, almost too small to even see. Most likely they would disappear completely, with no scars left behind. That made him much relieved, for he would have felt guilty if his neglect had caused her permanent marks.</p>
<p>"I would kill for some pizza right now," Kagome mumbled drowsily. Mere moments later, she was fast asleep. Inuyasha pulled the covers up over her body and got to his feet to go tell Jinenji the good news.</p>
<p>It took several more days before Kagome was actually able to be active once again. She had spent all of her time eating and sleeping, so she was regaining strength quite rapidly. Inuyasha was busy working, she knew, for he had told her he was laboring in exchange for her being healed. The hanyou that healed her was very nice, she thought, although his mother was more on the rude side.</p>
<p>Bored and sore from laying around, she managed to get to her feet and wandered outside the empty hut, taking some time to stretch out her stiff muscles. She spotted the older woman in the distance, tending to some sheep. Jinenji was far off at the other end of the field of crops, a mere speck to her. It must be a pretty large farm, she figured.</p>
<p>As she turned around the corner, she saw Inuyasha just a few feet away, carrying two huge buckets of water in his hands. He dropped them immediately as he saw her, and rushed forward to grab her shoulders. "Oh, shit, you're up!"</p>
<p>"Yes, I'm up. I really needed to stretch my legs for a bit," Kagome smiled at him. It was cute how concerned he looked right now. "Figured I would go for a walk or something, since there isn't anything else to really do right now."</p>
<p>"No," Inuyasha shook his head firmly. "You should just stay in the hut. I'm still busy running all over and busting my ass today, so I can't walk around with you."</p>
<p>"It's fine," Kagome told him. "I feel fine. I'm not going to pass out or something, I promise. I've been laying around for who knows how long, and I can't take it any longer."</p>
<p>"No," Inuyasha told her again sternly. "You're not wandering around on your own."</p>
<p>Kagome frowned at him. "Why not? I told you I'm fine. I'm only a little tired, but other than that, I feel just about normal. The fresh air and exercise will do me a lot of good."</p>
<p>"And I told you that you aren't walking around out there by yourself. You're safe if you stay in the hut, but otherwise," Inuyasha paused, staring at her hard. "You. Do. Not. Leave. My. Side." He punctuated every word in effort to drive home his point.</p>
<p>Kagome's blue eyes flashed angrily at him. "I'm not a fucking child, Inuyasha! In case you hadn't noticed, it was my twenty-first birthday when we got into this mess. I'm a grown woman and I'll do whatever I want." Shoving his hands from her shoulders, she spun around on her heel and stormed off. Angry tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, so she wiped them away with a fist. Almost immediately, she tripped over a stray piece of wood and fell forward.</p>
<p>In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha was in front of her, as she landed on her knees in the dirt. "Ow!" she hissed. She was mad and wanted to be alone now, so she scowled at him and started to rise. The last thing she wanted right now was for him to see her cry. Inuyasha grabbed her wrists and prevented her from getting up. "Let go of me!" she growled impressively. Although he had a hold on her wrists, she tried to swat him away to no avail.</p>
<p>"No! Listen, Kagome. Just listen to me, <em>please</em>," Inuyasha growled back. His ears flattened to his head and he sighed. The scent of her tears got to him. She was refusing to look at him, so he dropped one of her wrists and put a finger to her chin to make her meet his gaze. To his relief, she stopped fighting him and trying to get away, but continued to glare at him steadily.</p>
<p>He took a deep breath, for he was sure he was going to fuck it up, as his emotions had been going a little haywire as of late. "Look, I'm not saying this because I want to treat you like a child. I <em>know</em> you're a grown woman and I'm not trying to boss you around, but you have no idea what is out there, since you have no memory of the attack and you were mostly unconscious for nearly two weeks. It's far more dangerous than you know. This isn't like walking in the park back in Tokyo. I have zero fucking clue where we are right now, but I can tell you that apparently nobody I've come across has ever heard of Tokyo, which is completely bizarre."</p>
<p>"Weird," Kagome muttered, as she stared back into his eyes. It was strange to her, for she had never gotten such a good look at his face before, and certainly not his eyes. They were such an intense gold, and there was a <em>lot</em> of emotion in them right now, which made her heart thud a bit. Even if he was scowling at her slightly, with irritation etched in his face. "How dangerous is this place, exactly?</p>
<p>Inuyasha sighed and caught his breath, blinking at her. He could see her anger fading a bit, so he knew he was getting through to her. She no longer looked like she wanted to murder him, so he let go of the wrist he was still grasping. "Very dangerous, especially to a weak human girl like you." He saw the anger well up in her eyes again, so he continued hastily. "I'm not putting you down or insulting you, just saying it how it is. Compared to somebody like me. You probably would have been killed and eaten, or at least ripped to shreds the night you got attacked, by that centipede demon, if I hadn't showed up when I did."</p>
<p>Kagome's eyes widened a bit as her anger waned once again. They hadn't actually talked about the night she had been attacked, not since she very vaguely remember it being mentioned when she first came back to consciousness in the hut here.</p>
<p>"You have no idea how fucking lucky you are that I got there when I did! You have no idea what it was like for me, to see you dangling from that monster's mouth like a fucking rag doll. It was flinging you all over the place, and it dropped you when I attacked it and I didn't know if you were dead or not. I killed it, but you were poisoned from it. There are dangerous youkai running all over the damn place here, wild animal youkai, and the people I came across wanted to kill us on sight, too. This crazy bitch of a miko was firing arrows left and right at us the second she saw me carrying you to her village, and then she said you would never make it through the rest of the day, and she wanted to shoot you dead just to put you out of your misery."</p>
<p>Inuyasha stared hard at her, his brows knit as he furiously replayed the events of the past couple of weeks to her. She was shocked and completely silent.</p>
<p>"I got some medicine and directions to here from her little sister, who wasn't psycho, at least. You were completely delirious the entire time and could hardly do anything for yourself. I carried you everywhere, had to cup up water for you to drink anytime you were thirsty, and I kept trying to feed you even though you were projectile vomiting all over the place, and me, every time you ate something. It was literally just me and you out there in the wild for a few days. I didn't even sleep because I was too busy keeping an eye out for danger and making sure you were ok. I thought you would freeze to death at night so I stayed close to keep you warm. Seeing you like that was terrifying for me and I don't <em>ever</em> want to have to go through it again. So can you understand why I'm telling you to not dare wander away on your own?"</p>
<p>Kagome's lip trembled slightly and she felt her eyes water up. She broke his gaze to wipe them with the back of her hand, but found herself bawling a mere second later, both out of humiliation of what she had done, but also because she was shocked at the lengths he had gone to in order to care for her. "So, you actually cared enough about me to do all of that?" she managed to ask, her voice small. She almost felt a bit dizzy as she tried to process the information, and then definitely felt dizzy a moment later when she found herself abruptly crashing into Inuyasha, when he pulled her in for a tight hug.</p>
<p>"Of <em>course</em> I care about you, you <em>stupid</em> fucking girl!" he meant the last part as more of an endearment, as the words just slipped out of his mouth. Thankfully she just laughed at that, the sound muffled a bit as her face was pressed into the side of his shoulder. He had frozen in place after pulling her in for a hug, for he was completely confused as to what possessed him to give her one just now. It happened so naturally, but as he was unaccustomed to hugging or showing any signs of affection, he found himself bewildered by his own actions. His mind was torn between wanting to shy away, and to just hold her.</p>
<p>"Hey, now, it's not like we were ever really friends before," she informed him. Closing her eyes, she let out a shaky breath and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha to complete the hug. They had never made much physical contact before, aside from bumping into each other on accident. His body was warm, and hard and lean beneath her touch. She grabbed at his thin tee, bunching it up in her fists, while her face remained buried in the crook of his neck. More shaky breaths racked her body, as she breathed in his surprisingly enticing scent.</p>
<p>Inuyasha held the small, frail girl as tightly as he could without hurting her. He felt terrible. "We can be friends now, I guess, but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to be. This whole thing was entirely my fault. I should never have let you go off on your own. If I had stayed with you, the centipede never would have touched you."</p>
<p>"Inuyasha, none of this was your fault!" Kagome said firmly. She pulled back out of his hug so she could stare at him. He had guilt written all over his face now and tried to protest. "It's not like we knew it would happen. You didn't do anything wrong-"</p>
<p>"I ran off the other direction and abandoned you!" Inuyasha retorted. He was angry, but at himself, not her.</p>
<p>"I ran off the other direction from you myself. If anybody is to blame, it's me, for being stupid. What's done is done, and we can't change what happened. At least it all turned out well in the end, so just focus on that," Kagome told him. "I won't do it again, I promise. I will stay by your side where its safe. And yes, I do want to be friends for once. You did so much for me, when I was sick. I owe you big time. Let's put all of our differences aside and become friends."</p>
<p>"You don't need to be my friend just because you feel in debt to me," Inuyasha said quietly. His face hardened as he turned away from her.</p>
<p>Kagome shook her head. "I'm not. I don't want to be your friend because I feel obliged. I want to be your friend because you are a good guy, even though you never seemed to like me much for some reason. I want to be your friend so I can actually get to know you for once. I want to be your friend because you're worth having as a friend. And I want to be your friend long after we get back to Tokyo and back to our normal lives."</p>
<p>Before Inuyasha could open his mouth, Kagome leaned forward and quickly kissed him on the cheek, leaving him wide-eyed and stunned. She noticed the briefest flash of a blush on his face as she pulled away. "Ok, uh, yeah, we are friends now." He tried not to stutter.</p>
<p>"Good," Kagome gave him a pretty smile. "So since I'm not supposed to go walk off and wander around, is there anything I can do that won't make you worry about my safety?"</p>
<p>"Not really," Inuyasha told her honestly, with a lopsided grin. "I was going to go chop down some more trees to help them stock up on wood, so there's the danger of a tree falling on you and I'll be going back and forth. So probably not the best idea to try and tag along with me. I'll go tell Jinenji you're up now and maybe he can come on back and teach you a thing or two about herbs and medicine and stuff." Kagome nodded and he bounded off.</p>
<p>That evening, as the four of them sat around eating dinner, Inuyasha brought up the subject of moving on. "Well, we really appreciate everything you've done for us. We do need to get going though, since Kagome doesn't need medicine any longer. Since we've been lost for a couple of weeks now, I'm sure our friends and family are panicking, and we really need to get back to them as soon as possible," Inuyasha told them.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm so grateful and thankful for your help and hospitality. But we really do need to get going in the morning. I haven't been able to contact Mama since my phone had no service and died, so I'm sure she has been panicking nonstop. Inuyasha says you can tell us how to get to Osaka, which would be awesome. Once we get there, we can make our way back to Tokyo easy," Kagome added.</p>
<p>"Jinenji isn't going to tell you how to get to Osaka," the old woman crowed. Inuyasha and Kagome started to protest, but she merely waved them off. "He is going to take you there, and you are going to be his bodyguard on the road. One last job for you to do and consider your debt paid in full. Oh, and I'll need that kimono back," she nodded at Kagome.</p>
<p>"No problem, you've done more than enough for me. I suppose my clothes I showed up in are somewhere around here?" Kagome replied.</p>
<p>"They were washed. And that's fine. We will leave at dawn and I'll protect them both," Inuyasha declared.</p>
<p>As planned, early the next morning, Inuyasha woke Kagome up so she could eat a decent sized breakfast. She changed back into her birthday outfit afterwards. Jinenji had offered her a weathered knapsack that he didn't have any use for, which she graciously accepted. As they headed down the path, Inuyasha gave the other hanyou a sideways glance. "So, Jinenji, how fast can you run?"</p>
<p>"Fast," was his response. "Horses gallop, you know. They also have a lot of stamina."</p>
<p>"Alright, so then we gallop," Inuyasha grinned widely. This was going to be fun.</p>
<p>"Wait, I don't gallop, and I don't have a horse to ride," Kagome interrupted.</p>
<p>"You don't need a horse when you can ride <em>me</em> instead," Inuyasha told her with a smirk. "You're not too big or too old for a piggy back ride, are ya?"</p>
<p>"What?" Kagome blinked and laughed at him. "You aren't serious, are you? Oh, wait. You are…"</p>
<p>Inuyasha shrugged. "You want to get home sooner than later, right? Might as well get on my back and let me get us to Osaka even faster. Maybe we'll end up having pizza tonight after all."</p>
<p>"I feel super weird doing this, but fine. If you insist," Kagome sighed. Inuyasha knelt down for her, so she could wrap her arms around his neck. He grabbed the backs of her legs to keep her in place as he stood up. The girl hardly weighed anything on his back, and it would be a lot easier to run and navigate this way than when he had to carry her bridal style.</p>
<p>"A little weird, yeah, but effective," Inuyasha declared. At least nobody would see them running around like this out here, since it was so sparsely populated. "Just make sure you grip my waist tight with your legs."</p>
<p>"You know, we just became friends," Kagome chuckled, leaning in close to his ear. It flicked as her breath hit it. Her heart was hammering a bit at their closeness, and at the fact that she found herself wanting to try and tease him a bit to see how he would react. "And you're already making sexual innuendos. Ride me instead. Grip my waist with your legs."</p>
<p>"Oh, well, it was unintentional," Inuyasha barked out a laugh. He turned his head to try and peer back at her. "Besides, we're kind of doing it wrong, anyway. This isn't how babies are made."</p>
<p>"What are you two talking about?" Jinenji wondered, as he turned to stare at the snickering duo.</p>
<p>"Oh, nothing, we're just making some bad jokes about the current situation," Kagome laughed. "Let's get going." Her eyes bugged out a second later when Inuyasha lurched forward at a dizzying speed. Beside them, Jinenji surprisingly kept pace, although his running style was completely different. He ran on all fours, in a lumbering manner, and every footfall sounded like thunder. Inuyasha on the other hand, was rather quiet, racing forward more like a predator. The difference made sense, for he had canine youkai in his blood, whereas horses were prey animals.</p>
<p>They did have to stop and spend the night in the middle of a forest. Kagome found it hard to sleep, for the various animal noises kept her waking up in a fit of panic. Her only source of comfort was the fact that Inuyasha was laying a foot away from her, facing away. If danger came, he would wake her up and keep her safe, she reminded herself, as she tried to drift off to sleep.</p>
<p>A sudden, eerie howl had her wide awake moments later.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. When Are We?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kagome sat bolt upright, her heart pounding in her ears. Next to her, Inuyasha started, rolling over a bit so he could squint back at her. He was naturally a light sleeper, and had been even more on guard every night since they had fallen through the well. Just the sound of her sitting up in a flash had been enough to startle him. "What's wrong?"</p>
<p>"You didn't hear that howl?" she whispered in a panic. "It sounded close!"</p>
<p>"Sounded like a monkey to me, so nothing to worry about. Go to sleep," he told her, before rolling back onto his side, eyes already shut.</p>
<p>She trusted his judgement, and clearly he wasn't the least bit concerned, so she lay back down. But not before scooting just a bit closer to him, just for safety's sake. Her thighs ached a bit, from gripping his waist all day as she rode him piggy back style. It had been quite the experience, that was for sure. At times the wind whipped her face so badly she had to bury herself into his shoulder. Never had she imagined he could run so damn fast!</p>
<p>They had enough food packed to last longer than it would take to get there, so they didn't have to worry about catching anything when they stopped, which saved a lot of time. After lunch on the second day, Kagome groaned when Inuyasha knelt down to let her get on his back. "My thighs are killing me," she whined.</p>
<p>"We're almost there," Inuyasha reminded her. "Just hang in there a little longer. Soon we'll be home and you can be a lazy ass and lay in bed for a week if you want."</p>
<p>Kagome sighed and grabbed his shoulders. "Good. I've had enough of laying around doing nothing, but it's almost starting to sound appealing again. Onwards, my trusty steed!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. "Shut up."</p>
<p>"I will be sad to see you leave," Jinenji told them, as they galloped. "You are the only friends I've ever made. Maybe you can come back and visit sometime?"</p>
<p>"Maybe, if we are able to," Kagome smiled over at him. "We usually don't get out of Tokyo very often, but I'm sure we could try and plan a trip someday." The reality was that neither of them would ever find their way back out in the most rural of rural places in Japan, and even if they tried, she doubted they would be able to successfully find him. None of the roads out here had signs. How anybody ever knew where they were going was beyond her.</p>
<p>Inuyasha was quiet as he raced along. He still felt something was off, because they should definitely have come across some sign of a big city by now, especially since Jinenji had said they were very close to Osaka. While Japan had a lot of very traditional, rural cities and towns, he wouldn't have thought the land was this barren, with tiny villages so few and far between. He kept his ears and nose trained, trying to pick up the sounds and scents of airplanes, trains, or cars, but still got nothing.</p>
<p>When they came over a large, rolling hill, Jinenji slowed to a trot. "There it is. Osaka. See, I told you I would take you there!"</p>
<p>"That's Osaka?" Kagome squinted. All she could see was a very large settlement, mostly of what appeared to be huts and small buildings.</p>
<p>"That's not Osaka!" Inuyasha said a bit harshly. "I thought you were taking us to the Osaka. The huge city, with millions of people, skyscrapers, cars and highways everywhere!"</p>
<p>"This is the only Osaka I've heard of," Jinenji looked crushed. "It is a huge place, though. Lots of trade and people here."</p>
<p>Kagome was completely confused, but she trusted the horse hanyou didn't purposely lead them astray, and didn't want him to feel like he failed. The giant hanyou had a very sensitive soul. "You know what, let's just go down to Osaka, and check it out. Perhaps this is another Osaka, as there may be more than one. Thank you for taking us straight here, Jinenji. We would never have found it without your help."</p>
<p>"You're welcome, Kagome," Jinenji's eyes brightened as he looked at her. "I am glad I could help my friends."</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a look over his shoulder. "I need to talk to you later." He didn't sound very happy, which made Kagome worry a bit.</p>
<p>"So this is good? We can go to Osaka now? I don't like to leave my mother alone too long," Jinenji told them.</p>
<p>"Yes, let's go," Inuyasha said curtly. He carried Kagome on his back until they were almost to the buildings on the outskirts. There he allowed her to slide off of his back. "So, Jinenji, I guess this is where we part ways?"</p>
<p>"Yes," Jinenji told them sadly. "I am thankful to have had your company. I don't go into the village itself, since they don't like me there. I do my trading with a blind woman who lives on the outskirts on the far side. May we meet again."</p>
<p>"Goodbye, Jinenji! Thank you for healing me, and everything you've done. I really appreciate you!" Kagome gave him a big hug before they parted ways. He had such a gentle soul, and she was honestly going to miss him, after the brief time she had been in his company. He hugged her back, trying to be gentle with all of his brute strength.</p>
<p>"Bye, Jinenji. Thanks again for saving Kagome. Take care, big guy," Inuyasha nodded at him.</p>
<p>"You too…little…man?" Jinenji blinked down at the much shorter hanyou.</p>
<p>Inuyasha choked and gave him an incredulous look, while Kagome burst into a fit of giggles. "And I thought I was socially awkward," he muttered under his breath.</p>
<p>Once they finished their goodbyes, he took the lead and strolled slowly into the town, frowning as he tried to make sense of everything going on as of late. There had to have been some sort of mistake, but all he supposed they could do now was try to find a lead to take them on the next step of their journey home.</p>
<p>"Stay close," Inuyasha muttered to her, as his ears picked up whispers, as the pair made their way through the narrow streets. He noticed how everybody gasped and ducked into their huts as they passed by. All the chatter made him growl lowly, and they weren't even in the main part of the town yet.</p>
<p>When they came to a corner, Inuyasha glanced around to make sure nobody was looking and pulled Kagome by the elbow to hide with him. "What?" she questioned him, for she too, had noticed the strange behavior.</p>
<p>Inuyasha frowned a bit as he tried to come up with a plan. "This isn't going to work. At least not with us trying to walk around as we are. Just about everybody we've passed has made nasty comments about the filthy hanyou who dared to enter their village, and…" he paused.</p>
<p>"And something about me?" Kagome prodded. "It's ok, you can tell me what they said. I can handle it. Besides, better for me to know so I can try to help come up with a plan to get us home."</p>
<p>"And his whore," Inuyasha added, his lips in a tight line. "They think you're my whore because I'm leading you around, and because of the way you're dressed. But maybe if we try a different approach. I can't change my ears or anything, but we can cover you up at least, and you can lead the way. Maybe at least then somebody will be willing to talk to us."</p>
<p>"Ok, let's try that. But what am I going to cover up with? It's not like I brought a jacket with me," Kagome informed him. She couldn't help but sneak a peek around, trying to see just who was staring at her. She was aware that a lot of the rural areas were super conservative and more traditional, and was feeling rather self-conscious.</p>
<p>Inuyasha smirked. "I guess we can just borrow something, then. You notice how everybody hangs their laundry to dry?"</p>
<p>"Oh, you're bad," Kagome teased him, as she caught his drift.</p>
<p>"Not stealing," Inuyasha told her slyly. "Just borrowing." He crept further down the side of the building and spotted a dark blue kimono that had fallen off of somebody's clothesline. In the blink of an eye he nabbed it and draped it over Kagome's shoulders. "Probably best to leave the jeans on in case we need to make a quick escape for whatever reason. Never know if there's another crazy miko on guard here ready to kill on sight."</p>
<p>"Alright," Kagome finished putting the kimono on properly. It was long, so it mostly covered her jean clad legs anyway. "So, what exactly do you want me to find out? How to get to Tokyo, obviously. Anything else?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha thought for a moment. "Ask who the emperor is. And where the castle is."</p>
<p>Kagome gave him an odd look. "The emperor of Japan is Naruhito."</p>
<p>"Just ask anyway. I want to know what they say," Inuyasha told her. "Let's go. I hear people coming." This time when they walked down the street, Inuyasha was relieved to hear the whispers were a bit different. He followed Kagome as she headed to a market stall, where there was an array of fresh fruits and vegetables in various sized bushels.</p>
<p>"Good afternoon," Kagome bowed. "I was hoping you could tell me how to get to Tokyo?"</p>
<p>"I don't know what Tokyo is," the wrinkled old woman told her. She eyed Inuyasha warily.</p>
<p>Kagome took a deep breath, for she had expected that answer. "Ok, then. Would you be able to tell me who the emperor is? We're not from around here…"</p>
<p>"I can see that. Go-Kashiwabara," she replied, her voice suspicious. "Are you buying or are you leaving?"</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, I don't have my wallet on me. I was just hoping somebody could help. Have a good day," Kagome nodded politely and hurried off, Inuyasha hot on her heels. "Ok, what the hell is going on?" she hissed, grabbing his elbow when they made it around the corner of a hut.</p>
<p>"I don't know, but I'm feeling more suspicious as time goes by. What if this really is Osaka?" Inuyasha chewed his lip. "Ask somebody else the questions."</p>
<p>At his request, Kagome approached a young mother who was sweeping the entrance to her hut, with an infant strapped to her back. She received the same exact answers, and as for the castle, well, there wasn't one. However there was a palace.</p>
<p>"Let's go to the palace," Inuyasha decided.</p>
<p>"Naniwa-no-Miya," Kagome repeated, a deep frown on her face. "Go-Kashiwabara. Inuyasha, something is very wrong here. You know it too, don't you? That's exactly why you wanted to talk to me later. I'm starting to get a hunch, but I'm not sure if it's just me being crazy or not. Since it is kind of far-fetched."</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a sidelong glance. "More far-fetched then us being sucked into a well and being transported through some weird dimension? I'm not sure what hunch you came up with, but I'm willing to bet it's the same as mine."</p>
<p>"What made you come up with your hunch?" Kagome asked him.</p>
<p>"I just thought it was weird how there were so few people for one," Inuyasha replied, scratching the bridge of his nose with a claw. "And then all the little towns seem so primitive, like nobody knows what a phone is at all or has electricity or anything. Reminds me of the Amish a little, except they know about that sort of stuff. They just choose to live like they do. But not just that, as far as we've travelled, we haven't seen a single plane, or train, or truck. The air is so clean and fresh here, that I can't even smell the fumes. Even if we weren't right by any of those vehicles, the wind still carries traces of them all over the place, so I can detect them from a pretty good distance."</p>
<p>"Interesting," Kagome mused, tapping her chin, for it only supported her theory. "I was just thinking we were out in the middle of nowhere, at the far end of Japan somehow. It's a big country and I've never really been outside the Tokyo metropolis. I know there are a lot of tiny towns where people still live in a traditional manner, so I assumed it was that at first. However you do know that I have always been a bit of a history buff, right? There's been so many emperors I can't remember them all of course, but the name Naniwa-no-Miya… That was what the palace was called in Osaka before they built the castle. I was thinking there is no way in hell this could be Osaka…but…what if it really is?"</p>
<p>"What if it's not a matter of <em>where</em> we are…" Inuyasha's golden eyes widened as he stared at Kagome.</p>
<p>"…but <em>when</em> we are," she finished for him, her eyes flashing wide open in return. "Shit. What if we went back in time?"</p>
<p>"That was my hunch. I'm glad I'm not the only one to think so. Well, I'm not really glad about it, but you know, at least I know I'm not crazy for thinking it," Inuyasha told her. "How far back in time, exactly? Before 1800 I would assume?"</p>
<p>"Try at least five hundred years," Kagome told him grimly. "The Osaka castle wasn't built until closer to 1600, I can't remember exactly when though. Osaka was called something else before, but people started using this name somewhere around now. Tokyo did not exist back then, which makes perfect sense why nobody has fucking heard of it. It used to be called Edo."</p>
<p>"So we were super close to home when we first got out of the well. Or the land that would be our home in the future, I should say. And we wandered clear away from it. Somehow we both avoided going in the direction where the little Edo village was, since right now it must not have spread out to the area your shrine is at," Inuyasha groaned with frustration. "Although I suppose that hardly matters anyway, since the well wouldn't let me jump back in and go home."</p>
<p>"What do we do now?" Kagome looked like she wanted to cry. The severity of the situation was catching up on her quickly, and it took all of her willpower to not have a total meltdown here and now. "Are we stuck here forever? I'll never get to see Mama and my family again, or Sonya and Mark. I just want to go home!"</p>
<p>"Shh, let's move along and try to figure something out," Inuyasha told her, as he discreetly nudged her with his elbow to quiet her down and get her walking. She was starting to hyperventilate and they were drawing even more attention to themselves. A large group of villagers was heading their way, and he didn't like the purpose in their step.</p>
<p>Fighting back tears, Kagome hurried along, with Inuyasha hot on her heels. The plan to visit the palace was abandoned, and instead they took a turn and headed out through a grove of fruit trees. Once they were far enough from the village, or the "city" of Osaka, they dropped down to sit on a hill, their backs against an ancient tree.</p>
<p>"So what do we do now?" Kagome mumbled into her arms, as she folded them over the tops of her bent knees and buried her face. Now that it was hidden, she couldn't stop a couple of tears from rolling down her cheeks. Why couldn't this just be a bad dream?</p>
<p>"I have no fucking idea," Inuyasha sighed. "We just wander around aimlessly? The villages aren't all that welcoming to me, so it's probably best to try and stay out of them…unless you want to stay here while I wander?" He couldn't blame her if she chose to, for he doubted she was going to want to live out in the woods like a wild animal or cavewoman.</p>
<p>Instead, Kagome whipped her head up and gave him a furious look. "Stay? You think I'd want to stay in some tiny little village without you? Like I'm going to just live out the rest of my life here? Hell no. Wherever you go, I go. Besides, what if you find a way to get back to our time, and I'm not with you? Then what? You would risk leaving me at least five hundred years in the past all by myself?"</p>
<p>"It was just a passing thought, I guess, because it would be safer for you to be around other humans than in the wild with the demons. I wasn't meaning permanently," Inuyasha muttered. "Just thinking out loud because I have no idea what we can do about this shit."</p>
<p>Kagome punched his upper arm half-heartedly. "I'm safest with you, you dumbass. Besides, you ordered me to never leave your side, remember? You don't get to abandon me now. Besides, what if the village were to get overrun by bandits or caught in the middle of a war? What if we're in the Sengoku period? The Warring States era?"</p>
<p>"Then I hope we don't get caught up in the middle of a freaking war. I wonder what year it is exactly though. Hopefully we can find somebody who can tell us, and maybe you'll know the big battles to avoid once we figure out the year," Inuyasha mused.</p>
<p>"Perhaps," Kagome told him as she stood up and brushed the bottom of her kimono off. "Oops, I guess we are now considered petty thieves. Unless you want to return the kimono and clear our names?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha shook his head with a smirk. "That means having to sneak back down there. I say we just keep it, since it will be useful to have on hand, since people react more favorably to you with it on. Your birthday party outfit is kind of a major problem. Not that I have any issues with it. I don't. I meant the people here have the problem." He was a bit flustered towards the end, and she could have swore she saw a tiny flash of red on his face.</p>
<p>"That is true. I know what you mean. I kind of like it though, anyway. Blue is one of my favorite colors. I guess I'll just wear it over my red top until I can find somewhere to change later," she decided, as she readjusted the sash so that the kimono fit a little better. Earlier she had just thrown it on in haste. "So what do we do next?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha's eyes flicked over her briefly as she stood there with her hands on her hips. "I guess I go hunt us some lunch now." He leapt to his feet in one easy movement. "Let's just go that way. We can set up camp in the forest over there. Hopefully we won't have to worry about too many dangerous youkai this close to such a huge city."</p>
<p>"Huge city," Kagome laughed and rolled her eyes. "Huge for medieval times, I suppose. Lead the way."</p>
<p>They walked, for there was no urgency in getting anywhere now. There were no plans whatsoever for the time being, except to survive. While Inuyasha went off to hunt nearby, Kagome sought out an ideal spot for them to sleep that night, and spent her time clearing away the rocks and making the area as smooth and level as she could. Once that was done, she started to gather some dry wood to make a fire for whatever game he came back with.</p>
<p>Inuyasha returned a while later with two rabbits and a squirrel. He dropped them down next to the fire and dug through the wood until he found some ideal pieces that would start a flame. Kagome watched with great interest for she had no idea whatsoever as to how to start a fire. He made it look so easy. Once the flame was burning, he grabbed a rabbit and gave her a smirk.</p>
<p>"Are you sure you want to watch me do this?" he asked.</p>
<p>"No, not really, but it may be useful knowledge," Kagome said weakly. She couldn't help but stare at the poor bunny, it's dark eye still open and seemingly looking at her. Inuyasha laughed when she shuddered. Using his claws, he tore into the fur and then ripped the skin off with one quick yank.</p>
<p>"What the hell!<em> Inuyasha</em>!" Kagome paled, as she whirled away from him.</p>
<p>Inuyasha laughed at her. "It's easy and effective. I can assure you it's far worse what they do to the chicken and other livestock that provide the food you're used to eating back home."</p>
<p>"I can not <em>believe</em> you just ripped its skin off," Kagome cringed, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort.</p>
<p>"Well, you can't cook it with the skin on, ya know," Inuyasha told her.</p>
<p>Kagome snuck a quick peek and then turned her face away when she saw him gutting the poor thing. "Where the hell did you learn to do that, anyway?"</p>
<p>"I hunted a lot growing up. When you don't live in a big city, hunting fresh game is common. Especially in winter, when the roads are so snowy and icy that nobody wants to drive an hour or two to get to town just to go to the grocery store. I learned how to hunt and to prepare game from a neighbor of ours. Although I used a rifle, just because hunting was so common. Never wanted to risk taking down a deer that somebody else may be sniping from elsewhere at the exact same time and get shot myself."</p>
<p>"Well, then, I guess if I had to be stuck five hundred years in the past, at least I got stuck with you," Kagome teased. "You're useful, you country boy."</p>
<p>Inuyasha flashed her a fanged grin. "You, not so much. Useless city girl."</p>
<p>Kagome grinned back at him, for he was only being playful with his jest, as she watched him finish preparing the rabbit by skewering it and putting it on the fire. She was really grateful that he was the one to end up stuck in this entire ordeal with her, despite never having been friends beforehand. It was doubtful that either Sonya or Mark would have been able to do half of what he had, and she thanked all the stars in the sky that it wasn't Hojo that had ended up here with her. Otherwise she would have been as good as dead.</p>
<p>"We really must stick out like sore thumbs here, the way we dress," she commented, eyeing his slightly baggy jeans and black metal tee shirt. Whatever the band name was, she couldn't make out the lettering to be able to read it. Her eyes lingered over his biceps as they flexed slightly when he moved around, revealed by the short sleeves of his tee. Ever since they first met she had a bit of a crush on him, but had always felt it was one hundred percent one-sided. However, as of late she was getting a slight glimmer of hope that it might not be entirely one-sided.</p>
<p>"We totally do," Inuyasha agreed. "I might have to try and steal a kimono for myself at some point, even though I doubt it will make anybody dislike me less than they already do. There's way more prejudice here. Or now, I guess, would be more accurate."</p>
<p>He seemed a bit down, Kagome noted, as she rested her chin on her arms and watched him cook. How horrible it must be, to have to deal with that constantly. It made her feel a bit guilty about being a human. Once the rabbit was fully cooked, he handed her the skewered prey to eat and grabbed the other rabbit to repeat the skinning and gutting process.</p>
<p>"I'm gonna turn and face this way. It's a bit hard to watch that, especially when I'm trying to eat," Kagome grimaced. She shifted around on the ground so she was angled away from him.</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her an apologetic glance. "Yeah, wasn't thinking about that." He made quick work of his rabbit, and the squirrel for good measure, and put both over the flames. "Although I should really teach you how to hunt and do all of this. Just in case you need that knowledge at some point."</p>
<p>Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but closed it. He had a point, and the reason was unspoken, but they both knew what was meant. Just in case something happened to him, at least she would be able to catch food and not have to worry about starving to death, if she got lost and couldn't find any sort of civilization. "Perhaps you should. But I don't exactly have your abilities or a gun…"</p>
<p>"No, but you can learn to shoot a bow, right?" Inuyasha suggested. "It would be simple enough to make one and some arrows. Besides, it's a good idea for you to learn to use some kind of weapon. Not just for hunting but for self-defense. A bow would be perfect because you would never survive close-quarter combat."</p>
<p>"I wouldn't," Kagome agreed quietly. She continued eating her rabbit, deep in thought.</p>
<p>Inuyasha took his meat from the fire and bit off a huge mouthful. "It's settled, then," he told her, as he swallowed. "I'll make you a bow after lunch."</p>
<p>It was Kagome's job to put out the fire once they ate, while Inuyasha leapt up into a tree to select a prime branch for a bow. Once he tore it from the tree, he dropped down to sit on the ground cross-legged next to Kagome, who was perched on a boulder, staring at the river in the distance with a bored look on her face. When he joined her, she turned to watch, as he used his claws to strip the bark away and shape the sapling.</p>
<p>"What are we going to do for the bowstring?" Inuyasha paused, as he raised his head to stare at her. "Do you know how to weave a string from vines or plant fibers or something? Shit. I hadn't thought of that."</p>
<p>"Nope, zero idea," Kagome frowned. She stared back at him, brainstorming how she could possibly figure that out on her own, when a slow smile formed on her face.</p>
<p>"What?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously, as she crawled closer to him so she was kneeling directly in front of him.</p>
<p>Kagome tilted her head and let her gaze drift to the side of his face. "I have no clue how to take leaves or stems and create a string from that, but we don't need to use plants do we? Not when I can take a few strands of this." She reached over and grabbed some of his long silver hair and held it up to show him what she was talking about. It slipped through her fingers like spun silver.</p>
<p>"Hm. That's kind of genius," Inuyasha admitted. He ruffled his hand through his thick mane, somewhere at the back of his head, and used a claw to cut a tiny section off.</p>
<p>"Why, thank you. I have good ideas," Kagome grinned, as she took the several foot long sample of hair. It was soft, but strong, and she could easily twist it and tie it to make any length needed. An hour later, she had a bow, and the rest of the afternoon was spent creating arrows. Inuyasha had to hunt a pigeon down for its feathers, and gave her a lesson in plucking the bird while he used his claws too whittle some arrows for her. The whole weapon set was extremely crude, but hopefully it would get the job done. Somehow.</p>
<p>While he hunted their dinner that evening, Kagome decided to do some target practice on a tree. It did not go well at all, and soon she was frustrated and had to give up. She was going to need a LOT of practice. The damn tree didn't even move and she still missed it most of the time. At least Inuyasha hadn't been there to witness her failing miserably. The problem was the bow itself, she tried to tell herself in order to feel a little better.</p>
<p>They went to bed with the sun, for there wasn't anything else to do. Since it was relatively safe here, Inuyasha managed to sleep a little better than he had been whenever they slept out in the wild. As he slumbered, his body starting to wake up a bit at the approach of dawn, his nose started to twitch, and a second later his eyes flashed open in a panic. He smelled blood. A lot of blood.</p>
<p>
  <em>A/N: Anybody else excited for Yashahime? Just a few more days. InuKag just BETTER be alive somehow, and hopefully we won't have to wait too long to get an answer to the burning question of Who Fucked Sesshomaru?! Moroha is freaking adorable and a perfect combination of her parents. Setsuna is beautiful and seems just like daddy. Also grown up Kohaku is daaaamn fiiiiine. I hope the series doesn't disappoint.</em>
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  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Summoned</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Inuyasha's heart thudded loudly in his chest, as he lurched himself upright. For whatever reason, he smelled a lot of blood coming from Kagome. Had she somehow been attacked during the night without his knowledge? That shouldn't have been possible, not with his senses.</p>
<p>"What's going on?" Kagome mumbled sleepily. She had been in the process of waking up herself, as she lay there facing Inuyasha, her eyes half closed. Now they were wide open as she struggled to sit up, seeing him launch himself upwards in a panic.</p>
<p>"You're bleeding!" he told her, wild-eyed as he hurriedly yanked the ragged sheet they had found the day before off of her. "Did you get bit by—oh…<em>shit</em>…" He gaped at her, his face starting to redden.</p>
<p>"Huh?" Kagome blinked, as her mind scrambled to catch up to what was presently happening, as she wasn't completely alert yet. "Bleeding? I'm not…" Her entire body when rigid when she sat upright, when she noticed Inuyasha literally frozen in place, one hand midair, as he stared down at her thighs, his eyes suddenly huge. The kimono she had worn to bed, since she had washed her other clothes after dinner the evening before, had spread open a bit, revealing the inside of her thighs. Which were smeared with blood.</p>
<p>"Don't look!" Kagome screamed, as she reached out and shoved Inuyasha over so that he fell backwards onto his ass. Fortunately the kimono hadn't come undone all the way up, because she wasn't wearing any panties, but she was absolutely mortified nonetheless. Almost immediately, she burst into tears, as she clenched her legs together and wrapped the sides of the kimono as tightly as possible.</p>
<p>It was like she was sitting in a bloodbath. All she wanted to do right now was curl into a tiny ball and die of embarrassment. With all that had been going on, she had literally forgotten that her period was due any day. As if her luck couldn't get any worse, it had to be the mother of all periods. Usually hers were rather light, but for some godforsaken reason, her body decided to expel about half of its blood overnight. Well, that was an exaggeration, but it felt like that to her. Maybe it was all the stress her body had endured the past couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Inuyasha started to rise, but Kagome grabbed a leafy branch that was laying next to her and flung it at him, missing him widely. "Stay down and don't look at me!" she screamed at him again. Loud sobs racked her entire body as she clumsily got to her feet and ran off towards the stream.</p>
<p>When she was younger, she once had a period accident in middle school, and had cried when the popular girls made fun of her in front of everybody else in the locker room, but this was worse. Way worse. There was nothing like having the guy you have a secret crush on stare at your blood-smeared bare legs. She was <em>never</em> going to be able to face him again in a million years. She would rather die.</p>
<p>As soon as Kagome reached the river, she charged into it without a second thought, not caring that it was freezing. She ripped the kimono off as she waded in deeper. Furiously, she started to scrub the blood off of the garment, clouding the water red whenever she dunked it in. Tears continued to stream down her face, as she cursed her body. Once the tears had started to flow, it was impossible to stop them, as all the stress as of late began to catch up to her.</p>
<p>Although he had been order to stay down, Inuyasha crept back to his feet once Kagome was out of range. He felt bad for her. He truly did. There wasn't anything he could do though, so he sat down on a fallen log and waited. And waited some more. When it was clear that she had no intention of coming back to camp, he crept down to the river. He could hear her sniffling and splashing about.</p>
<p>"Hey, Kagome! Are you covered up?" he called out. He could see the top of her head but that was all.</p>
<p>"I said to stay away from me!" Kagome yelled back. She ducked down in the water a bit more, so that she was sitting in it up to her neck. The kimono was completely submerged now, but what did that matter, since she had to soak half of it anyways.</p>
<p>Inuyasha crept forward. "I can't stay away from you forever, you know. So cover yourself up now if you haven't yet. I'm coming over." He waited a moment before walking through the brush, to the edge of the water.</p>
<p>Kagome hugged her kimono to her chest as she knelt there in the water. He was standing there gazing down at her solemnly, his hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans. She dared to give him the briefest of looks before turning away from him, as more tears started to fall.</p>
<p>"Do you want me to-" he started to ask nervously.</p>
<p>"NO!" Kagome yelled at him, not even waiting to hear what he was about to ask her. More tears fell, for she was an emotional wreck. Damn him for coming to check on her. "I want to go home! I'm so stressed over everything that's happened lately! I just want to go home!"</p>
<p>"So do I," Inuyasha told her. He bit his lip, for he was trying to tread very carefully right now.</p>
<p>Kagome hiccuped as she tried to force herself to stop crying in front of him, before he thought she was the biggest baby on the planet. "Do you have <em>any</em> idea how fucking humiliating this is for me?" she asked in a small voice.</p>
<p>"I'm sure it is. Although I can't say I know what it's like," Inuyasha told her, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. "But you can't help it, you know. At least it means you aren't pregnant." He tried to make light of the situation but Kagome only turned and glared daggers at him, making him cringe a bit. She could be pretty scary for a cute little thing when she was angry.</p>
<p>"Of course I'm not pregnant! But that doesn't make me feel any better about the fact that I'm stuck in feudal Japan while on my period. It's not like I can just go to 7-11 and pick up some supplies there! What the hell did women even do about it in this time?"</p>
<p>"I wouldn't know!" Inuyasha told her helplessly. He glanced down at her as she faced his general direction, even though she kept her face downturned and hidden. "Look, we can probably fashion up something for you to wear…"</p>
<p>"Oh my god, <em>stop</em>" Kagome groaned. She wanted to just sink under the water completely and let it take her far, far away. "I can <em>not</em> believe we are having this conversation right now. Just kill me already, please."</p>
<p>"That I'm unwilling to do," Inuyasha smirked at her. "I can't believe we're having this conversation either. Seems like I was just getting onto you about Hobo, making fun of him for being the kind of guy to give you feminine products for a gift, and here we are, talking about hand making you something to wear."</p>
<p>Kagome growled at him, hearing the amusement in his voice. "You should probably just shut up right now, if you had any brains. This isn't funny, you asshole."</p>
<p>"I know," Inuyasha sighed. "But for real, though, you should probably get out of the water. You're shivering and we don't need you catching hypothermia next, do we?"</p>
<p>"I'm not getting out," Kagome shook her head stubbornly. "What's the point if I'll just bleed all over myself again? I don't have anything to wear right now, anyway."</p>
<p>"I'll be back in a bit, then," Inuyasha sighed again. There was no arguing with her, and what we he going to do, pull her out naked and have her kill him for it? He hated to leave her alone, but the area was pretty safe, so he raced back towards the village at top speed. It was time for more petty thievery, he thought, as he crept between the buildings, searching for any articles of clothing that seemed suitable. He still had no idea what he would actually do, but anything was better than nothing at this point, right?</p>
<p>Kagome just sat there miserably, having run out of tears, while she waited for Inuyasha to return. While she was freezing, she refused to get out of the water. She didn't have to wait long though, for he soon came back and set a random array of fabric items down on a large boulder close to the water. It was still totally humiliating, but she did appreciate the effort…</p>
<p>"Can you maybe rip that up into thick strips and fold it up somehow?" she found her voice squeaking a bit, as she pointed to what appeared to be a small sheet.</p>
<p>"I guess," Inuyasha replied. His claws made quick work of the fabric, and he hastily fashioned it as Kagome gave instructions. Then he slashed up more of the sheet at her request, and scurried off when she haughtily dismissed him. He left to go hunt some breakfast, and was relieved to see her sitting near the campfire upon his return. The dark blue kimono she had worn last night was hanging from a tree branch to dry, as she had put on the green one he had stolen this morning.</p>
<p>"I managed to put together something," Kagome told him dully. It was still hard to even look at him right now, but she was grateful for his help. "Thanks."</p>
<p>"No problem," Inuyasha shrugged, peering her way out of the corner of his eye. The mood was a bit tense, so he just let her be for the time being.</p>
<p>Eventually Kagome turned to gaze at him. They had done nothing but sit there for a couple of hours. "So, uh, maybe you could make something for me? Maybe out of the bones from one of the animals we ate?"</p>
<p>"Make what?" Inuyasha turned his head to gaze at her.</p>
<p>Kagome shifted a bit and shuffled her feet through the leaves. "I was hoping you would be able to make a needle for me. That way I can try and sew stuff to wear so it's not so, uh, sloppy or whatever." She couldn't help but blush a bit. "It would be a lot better that way, since I feel kind of bulky, having had to tie all this fabric on." She gestured towards her hips, turning even more red.</p>
<p>"Oh. Should be easy enough," Inuyasha said. "You can sew?"</p>
<p>"Never have before, but I'm sure I can figure it out," Kagome replied. She fiddled her hands in her lap and tried to peek at him. "I am sorry for screaming at you earlier. I was just…more than stressed…the whole thing is so awkward to have to deal with right now. I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that."</p>
<p>Inuyasha shrugged at her. "It's fine. We should probably just get used to dealing with awkward things around each other, considering we don't have much choice in the matter."</p>
<p>"You're right, I suppose," she said. She was reluctant to agree to that. "Although so far it's been mostly me being the awkward one. You probably think something is very wrong with me."</p>
<p>"Oh, no, I know something is very wrong with you," Inuyasha teased her.</p>
<p>She glared up at him with eyes narrowed. "Shut up!" she exclaimed, pinching his side for good measure, making him squirm.</p>
<p>"It's ok, I'm not judging. Much," he teased her some more. "What happens here stays between us, okay? I won't tell anybody all of your dirty secrets when we get home again. Deal?"</p>
<p>"Deal," Kagome sighed, holding out her hand to make it official. Inuyasha grasped her smaller hand with his and shook it, being careful not to scrape his claws over her wrists in the process. "So, um, anything else that you can think of that we need, in order to survive out here? I hate the idea of stealing things from other people."</p>
<p>"I should make some fishhooks while I'm at it. Teach you how to fish," Inuyasha said thoughtfully. "Maybe a knife or two as well, but I would need to get some larger game for that." He grinned and looked at her. "Want to see me skin a deer?"</p>
<p>"Ugh," Kagome wrinkled her nose. "Not at all."</p>
<p>Inuyasha laughed at her and reached down to dig through the discarded bones from their previous meal. He had never made a needle before, but there was a first try for everything, right? It would be a lot easier if he had a knife of some sort. While his claws were sharp and all, they weren't made for simply slicing slowly through bone, trying to do precision work. He managed to splinter a bone down and used the edge of a sharp rock to chip away until he was able to get a piece that was needle-like. Making the hole was not going to happen, so he settled for making a small cut at the blunt end, for the hairs to snag on to.</p>
<p>"Here. I know it's super crude like everything I make is, but this is the best I could do for now," Inuyasha told her, as he held it out to her in his flattened hand. She thanked him and reached out to take it, her fingertips trailing along the inside of his open palm.</p>
<p>While she began the task of teaching herself a brand new skillset, Inuyasha merely glanced her way now and then. He was rather stressed himself, but doing his best to hide it. Ever since they had figured out they time traveled back to the past, his brain had been working nonstop, trying to find some way they could make it back to their own time. He had been completely unsuccessful.</p>
<p>Sewing proved much harder than she anticipated, both in terms of figuring some semblance of a pattern and actually putting it together. She had gone for as simple as possible, but it was a bit amazing to her how a simple garment took more planning than you would actually think. The end result was rather terrible, but most likely it would serve its purpose, and that was good enough for the time being.</p>
<p>Inuyasha had gone to the river to test out the fishhooks he had fashioned for them, and was returning with a whole armful, right about when she just finished up changing. She would burn the bloodied rags later, she decided, as she quickly balled them up and hid them from his view. While he started working on dinner, she picked up more pieces of fabric, to continue with her attempts in hopes of figuring out a better method.</p>
<p>"What's that?" Inuyasha asked out of the blue, a frown forming on his face. He dropped down to his knee in front of Kagome and peered at her neck. There was something there, and he was rather concerned.</p>
<p>"What's what?" she asked, frozen stiff with worry, when she saw the way he was kneeling and staring at her. She tensed up a bit when he moved forward in a predatory manner, reaching out for the side of her neck with his claws flexed.</p>
<p>"This," Inuyasha hissed. When the wind picked up a moment ago, he had sensed a very faint trace of youkai, and it was coming from Kagome's hair. So he had dropped down to try and get a better look at her, and had spotted something hopping around on the collar of her kimono. It was tiny and seemed oblivious to his presence, and Kagome clearly hadn't noticed it either.</p>
<p>Inuyasha swiftly pinched the round little creature between the tips of his claws and pulled it off of Kagome's neck. A tiny voice started to sputter indignantly. "What the hell are you and why are you sucking my friend's neck?" he demanded, as he held it up in front of his face to glare at.</p>
<p>Kagome's eyes went wide and she clapped a hand to the side of her neck where Inuyasha had pulled the creature from. "What <em>is</em> that thing!" she yelped.</p>
<p>"I am not a thing," the tiny round creature exclaimed. He kind of resembled a fat little bald man with a long thin mustache and a carrot for a nose. He also had six arms and legs total. "My name is Myoga and I am a flea demon!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha started cracking up. "A flea demon! Hey, Kagome, I didn't know you had fleas!"</p>
<p>"I do not have fleas! You're the dog demon here, so he probably has been hiding on you!" Kagome exclaimed loudly.</p>
<p>"No way. I would have noticed him if he was on me," Inuyasha laughed. Turning his attention back to Myoga, he held him up close to his nose. "So, little flea man, why were you sucking on my friend's neck anyway?"</p>
<p>"The scent of her blood was very attractive. And delicious," Myoga declared. Kagome blushed and winced at that. As he stared at the huge golden orbs that suddenly narrowed at him, Myoga waved his arms frantically. "Don't be angry with me. I am a flea and this is what we do! No, don't squeeze me any harder!"</p>
<p>"I could squish you like a grape," Inuyasha threatened. "But I won't, if you promise not to bite her again. She's had enough of that, lately. First, centipede demons, now flea demons…"</p>
<p>"Bite her," the flea repeated, putting a hand to his chin only to wave all six appendages again. "No, wait! I wasn't talking about actually biting her again, I was just thinking. You two must be the ones I was sent to find!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha and Kagome shared a questioning look at that, before he turned his attention back to the flea he was pinching. "Why do they want to find us? How do you know it is even us that you are supposed to find? <em>Who</em> sent you to find us?"</p>
<p>"Now, now, one question at a time. This old man's ears can hardly keep up," Myoga chuckled dryly. "I'd be happy to answer your questions, but first, wouldn't you mind making me feel a little more comfortable? These claws of yours are jabbing me a bit painfully."</p>
<p>"If I let you go, you aren't going to run away?" Inuyasha asked in a low voice.</p>
<p>Myoga blinked at him. "Of course not. That would defeat the entire purpose of me finding you. I wasn't meant to find you and immediately run off. I was meant to deliver a message. Now, what was that first question again?" To his relief, the nails that were pinching him relaxed, and he wandered forward to stand in the middle of the large open palm.</p>
<p>"I think it was why did you want to find us?" Inuyasha thought back. He had just blurted a bunch of questions out on a whim.</p>
<p>"Because I was given the order to," Myoga answered.</p>
<p>Inuyasha growled and showed a fang. "I didn't mean that. Why did they want you to find us? Is it because we did something wrong and somebody wants to kill us? Or because you can help us get home?"</p>
<p>Myoga's face brightened a bit, for he was feeling more confident that he had found the right couple. "No, there are no orders for you to be brought to death, yet."</p>
<p>"Yet?" Inuyasha growled, making the flea drop a bead of sweat and flap his arms.</p>
<p>"I'm not saying there will be any such orders soon! My, you're a temperamental one, aren't you? Anyways, as I was going to finish saying, I was instructed to find you because you're interesting. Or should I say, the girl is interesting. Having tasted her blood, I am inclined to agree. Ow!" Myoga narrowed his beady eyes upon being squeezed again.</p>
<p>"How exactly is my blood interesting?" Kagome asked curiously, scooting closer to get a better look at the little flea.</p>
<p>Myoga turned and stared at her for a full minute before answering. "You have a lot of power in your blood. A strange power though, one I'm not familiar with. Perhaps if I had the chance to, ah, study it a little longer…"</p>
<p>"You don't need to be studying anything," Inuyasha grumbled. He wasn't about to trust some strange little flea demon that popped up out of nowhere.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I don't want some little dude sucking my blood, sorry. I don't even understand what powers you think I have. I'm just a regular human girl. I'm not strong or fast like Inuyasha is. If one of us is powerful, it's all him," Kagome interrupted. In all honesty, she did know that evidently she possessed some sort of miko-like powers perhaps, as Inuyasha had filled her in on what Kaede had told him while she was unconscious. She had no idea how to use these powers though, and thought it would be best to keep that knowledge secret from others for the meantime.</p>
<p>Myoga turned around to stare at the girl who's blood he had been sucking earlier. "You're no regular human girl. Word got out that a strange girl was attacked by a centipede demon. Now, usually their poison turns your insides to mush, and you die within hours, but not you. Somehow you survived, and that was because of your power. You saved your own life."</p>
<p>There went that whole idea of keeping it secret.</p>
<p>Kagome gaped at him. "I could have turned to mush?" Terrified eyes left Myoga to stare at Inuyasha, who looked deeply troubled. He was beating himself up again, she realized.</p>
<p>"Could have, but you didn't!" Myoga declared proudly. "However, I would recommend steering clear of the centipede demons regardless. You don't want to tempt fate twice."</p>
<p>"Ok, we know the centipede demons are bad, so best if we move on from them," Inuyasha said quickly. His mouth was set in a grim line. "Anyways, aside from Kagome being interesting and being sent to find us, why does anybody need to see us? I'm sure there are plenty of other interesting people out there you can gawk over."</p>
<p>"It's not to gawk. The girl has a power that could potentially be extremely useful. I'm afraid I can't give you any more information than that," Myoga sighed. "I was simply told to find you and tell you where to go."</p>
<p>"Where the hell are we going, anyway? You'll lead the way, I assume? It's not like either one of us has any idea where anything is or how to navigate in this world," Inuyasha pointed out</p>
<p>"You are in luck then, for I have a map I can give you. It's extra large!" Myoga told him. He dug around in the bag that had been on his back and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper.</p>
<p>"That's extra large?" Kagome laughed, scooting closer and squinting at the tiny flea demon. He was fumbling with the paper, using a small pen to make marks on it before attempting to unroll it for them to view.</p>
<p>"Maybe to a flea, it is," Inuyasha snorted. "That is without a doubt the tiniest map I've ever seen in my life."</p>
<p>"Tiny to you, but you can still read it, can you not?" Myoga asked pointedly.</p>
<p>Kagome scooted around to kneel next to Inuyasha, her elbow brushing his. "So I take it we need to go there, where the x is?" she asked, pointing to a red x on the map. It was located on the west side of the northernmost large island that made up the main part of Japan. She glanced up at Inuyasha who was scrutinizing the map beside her. "That's present day Sapporo, I think."</p>
<p>"Yes, you go to the red x," Myoga informed her. "Very good. Your map reading skills aren't completely lacking. Now, see this dot here? The little blue one? That's where you are right now. It will change as you travel, due to the youkai ink in my pen."</p>
<p>Inuyasha nodded,. "Well, that's something. It will help us narrow our location down to within a few hundred miles. Better than having zero idea where we are, I guess. But you haven't answered me still. You are leading the way, right?"</p>
<p>"Alas, I am not, for I have other errands to run. But we shall surely meet again at some point, I expect!" Myoga bowed and was about to leap, but Inuyasha closed his hand quickly to prevent the flea from escaping.</p>
<p>"One more question that you haven't answered," he said sternly. "Who sent you to find us?"</p>
<p>"Inu no Taisho."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Trickster</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>'<em>My father summoned us?</em>' Inuyasha thought, as he sat brooding after dinner. He stared into the flames, lost in thought. Why would his father want to see them, and how did he even know they ended up here? He hadn't seen his father since he was very young, and only had vague memories of the man. All he knew was that his mother had loved him dearly.</p>
<p>While Inuyasha sat there deep in thought, Kagome gathered the fish bones to carry them off away from their campsite. Ever since Myoga had hopped off, her friend hadn't spoken much at all. She recalled how his face turned white at the mention of the name.</p>
<p>He was as still as a statue when she returned, so feeling concerned, she leaned over his shoulder as she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his upper torso in a hug. To her surprise, he leaned back into her embrace. "Inu no Taisho," she repeated quietly into his ear. "He was…" She didn't want to say it in case she was wrong, but she had a pretty good guess, with what she knew about his history.</p>
<p>"My father," Inuyasha sighed, coming out of his trance. He grabbed her forearm and squeezed gently, as he appreciated the comforting gesture.</p>
<p>"I thought so," Kagome murmured. She had remembered him once mentioning that he had lost his father when she was young. So much must be going through his mind right now, to actually meet the man who fathered him, even thought it was happening about five hundred years before he was conceived.</p>
<p>"What do I even say? Do I just pretend like I have no idea who he is?" Inuyasha blurted out. He had so many questions and zero answers.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Kagome wasn't much help herself. "I don't know," she told him sadly. "But I think that you should just go and play it by ear. You can play a thousand scenarios in your head, and it probably won't happen like any of them. That's usually how it works in real life."</p>
<p>"You're right," Inuyasha muttered. "I'm sure that whatever happens will catch me completely off guard. I still can't help but imagine what it will be like. How hard it might be to see him, especially since he won't even know a thing about me."</p>
<p>Kagome tightened her arms around his neck. "This place is full of surprises, that's for sure. But think of it as a good surprise, because how many people get to say they got the chance to meet a parent they lost as a young child?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha smiled lightly at that. "Probably only me. Getting sucked into a well and traveling five hundred years into the past isn't exactly a common occurrence. We should get some rest soon. So we can be on our way early in the morning."</p>
<p>"Agreed," Kagome said, loosening her grip on his upper body. She couldn't resist playfully ruffling a hand through his hair at the top of his head as she pulled away. Thick bangs always hung down his forehead, which she had always been a fan of. "Inuyasha, one other thing I meant to ask if you could do earlier." He turned to gaze up at her as she spoke. "How many days have we been here so far?"</p>
<p>"Um," Inuyasha paused to think for a moment, as he started to tick off his fingers. "You got bit the first night, then it was almost a week later by the time we got to Jinenji. I think it took about a week and a half to two weeks until you were strong enough to leave. And another couple of days since we left his hut. My best guess is fifteen to eighteen days here?"</p>
<p>"Ok. I had no idea since I was unconscious for most of it," Kagome sighed. "I was thinking it would be a good idea to keep track of how long we are here. Just because. Too bad we don't have any paper or pens. Maybe scratch tally marks on a rock or something, like they did in the good old days?"</p>
<p>"The good old days are right fucking now," Inuyasha flashed a grin at her. "But yeah. Good idea. I'll find something in the morning to keep track of the days on." He paused, eyeing the orange and pink sky thoughtfully, before his eyes widened. "Oh, shit. That's tonight!"</p>
<p>"What's tonight?" Kagome asked in alarm.</p>
<p>Inuyasha looked grim. It was more of an annoyance to him, and not that big of a deal back home, but he could see the potential problems it could cause in this world. Fortunately they hadn't been disturbed last night, but that wasn't to say that it would be the same every single night. Too bad he hadn't thought of that when they had started their journey north a few hours earlier and were now farther away from Osaka.</p>
<p>"Inuyasha, what is it?" Kagome repeated again with concern. She walked around to kneel in front of him, since he was facing away. The stress was visible on his face.</p>
<p>"I'm going to be human tonight," he muttered.</p>
<p>"Oh," Kagome blinked. "That's fine…we can just stay in this cave for the night."</p>
<p>"No, it's not fine!" Inuyasha grumbled at her. "I won't be able to sense anything that can be a potential danger. I won't be able to hear or smell like I usually can. And I won't be strong enough to protect you the way I should be able to." His voice dropped as he spoke the last bit.</p>
<p>Kagome reached for his hand and squeezed the back of it. It was still a bit strange, she thought, how oddly protective he had become over her. The past few days they had gotten along way better than they ever had, and she really enjoyed the change in their friendship. She hoped that they could keep it going.</p>
<p>"I'll let you use my bow," she told him with a small smile. "You'd probably be a way better shot than me. I've been practicing while you're off hunting but I'm just not that good yet."</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a fleeing smile in return. "I'm sure I am way better with it than you. Let me hang onto the bow all night, even though it's not my weapon of choice, and I'll feel a little better about being human."</p>
<p>"Ok, you can have it, but you'll go to sleep, right?" Kagome frowned at him.</p>
<p>"Probably not," Inuyasha admitted. Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe." She glared at him and jabbed at his chest with a finger. "Ok, I'll try to lay down!"</p>
<p>"Good," Kagome smiled sweetly at him, happy now that she got her way. Inuyasha was just a bit bewildered at what had happened. Since when did she have that kind of power over him?</p>
<p>His skin prickled a bit, making him turn his attention towards the evening sky. The brilliant shades of orange were fading into navy blue, as twilight rapidly approached. Noticing his sudden agitation, Kagome sat and watched him quietly. Before her eyes, his shining silver hair turned to steel, and then continued darkening all the way until it was jet black. His cute dog ears had disappeared at some point as well, when she was distracted by his rapidly changing hair color.</p>
<p>"I've never seen you as a human before," Kagome said softly.</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a wry smile. "Most people haven't. Usually I just stay home and play video games or watch tv when I'm human. So…what do you think?" He was a bit nervous as to what her answer would be.</p>
<p>Kagome pretended to think, tapping her finger to her chin, as she gazed at him. His face was exactly the same, but he had human ears peeking out from his hair. Aside from the black hair right now, the only other major change was his eyes had gone from bright gold to a rich greenish brown. "I think," she paused, grinning slyly, for he looked a little nervous. Her eyes flicked down to his chest, admiring his nicely fitting short-sleeved tee-shirt. "I think you look like you belong in a band."</p>
<p>That made Inuyasha relax and chuckle a bit. "I guess." He rubbed his arms and shivered slightly. It was more chilly than he expected it to be, but that was probably due to him having more of a tolerance for the cold when he was in his regular hanyou form. His movement made her glance at his hands, which had blunt human nails instead of sharp claws.</p>
<p>"Too bad we don't have blankets or anything," Kagome said. She had noticed him shiver for just a second, and she was pretty cold herself. "Even with the fire going, it would help a lot to be able to cover up."</p>
<p>"I'll be fine," Inuyasha replied quickly, before glancing her way. '<em>She's cold too</em>,' he realized, when he noticed she was shivering slightly. "You're not, though. If you want, you can come closer…"</p>
<p>Kagome blushed a bit at the offer, but took him up on it, and scooted closer so that their sides were touching. It had been a long day and she was kind of sleepy. With the fire roaring in front of her, and the warmth on her side, the drowsy feeling quickly grew stronger. Half aware of what she was doing, Kagome rested her head on Inuyasha's upper arm and closed her eyes. He felt a pang as she cuddled against his side and fell asleep within minutes. Unsure of what else to do, he shifted her around once she was in deep sleep and lay her down flat on the ground. He was tired too, so he curled up close to her and ended up drifting off to sleep eventually, his fist gripping the bow.</p>
<p>In the morning, Inuyasha woke with a start as soon as his youkai senses came flooding back to him. Somehow he had fallen asleep again after waking up for the third or fourth time. At least they made it through unharmed, he realized with relief. Kagome had been laying next to him, and as he rose, she rolled away, waking up in the process.</p>
<p>When they were ready to finally leave, Kagome crossed her arms and gave Inuyasha a look. "I'm not riding on your back right now. Maybe in a day or two."</p>
<p>"That's fine, no need to," he gave her a devilish grin. Clearly she had been expecting him to argue and insist, for her eyes widened a bit and she backed up a step.</p>
<p>"What are you—heyyy!" her voice rose upwards in a loud squeal, as Inuyasha rushed her and with one swift movement, grabbed her around the waist and slung her over his shoulder. As she kicked her legs, he wrapped an arm tightly around her knees, to prevent her from thrashing about. "Inuyasha!" she howled, putting her hands on his back in effort to keep her upper body from banging into him.</p>
<p>"What?" he yelled, as he picked up speed. "You said you didn't want to ride on my back!"</p>
<p>"I didn't mean carry me like this!" she shouted in response, between giggles. Her hair whipped in front of her face, making it almost impossible to see the ground flashing by behind them.</p>
<p>Eventually he slowed to a walk and stopped, letting her slide through his arms. Kagome blushed slightly as her body slid along his lean frame, his arms lingering around her once she was standing a second longer than necessary. Was it intentional, she wondered?</p>
<p>"So, you'd rather just walk?" Inuyasha asked, as they strolled along. It was already pretty warm out, as it was almost June. He wasn't the biggest fan of the heat or the sun, so he hoped this whole ordeal would be over before they got to the worst months of the year. While he realized then that they had only assumed it would be the same month here, he figured even if it wasn't, it would be pretty close, judging by the temperatures and the fact that the trees were full of green leaves and budding flowers were poking up through the grass.</p>
<p>"Yeah, for now, at least. Just because of, um, my personal problems," Kagome's cheeks reddened a bit. It still mortified her to bring up the subject around her friend she had a long-time crush on. "At least not while I'm still trying to learn to deal with it properly."</p>
<p>Inuyasha knew exactly what she meant, so he didn't push the subject. "Alright, fine. We can just walk together for now. Don't suppose there is any real reason to hurry." The road they were on right now was pretty flat and easy to navigate. It seemed to be heading in the right direction for quite a ways, so he figured they would just stay on it, rather than attempt a shortcut though the thick, overgrown brush.</p>
<p>Around dinner time, they decided to take a longer break, as Kagome was a bit fatigued from walking all day long. They had stopped at a large lake, so fish ended up being on the menu yet again. Inuyasha insisted that Kagome eat a little more, just for extra energy. She was looking quite a bit healthier, he noticed happily.</p>
<p>"Before we keep going, we should probably bathe here," Kagome suggested. It seemed abnormally hot today, despite the cool morning, and she was sweaty and just felt gross everywhere. Inuyasha agreed to it, so they sought out a good spot to get in. The shore of the lake had a bit of a rocky peninsula jutting out, with a smaller cove like area on each side. "You can bathe there, and I'll take this side, ok? No peeking."</p>
<p>"No peeking. You get started first since you take longer to bathe," Inuyasha decided. He spotted some animal bones laying close to the lake, so he went over to pick through them, trying to find a large one he could make a knife out of so he wasn't having to use his claws for everything. Since they had no way to properly store meat here, he had been a bit reluctant to try and kill a deer, for most of the meat would just go to waste.</p>
<p>Several minutes later, after he heard Kagome splashing around, Inuyasha headed to his side of the rocky peninsula and stripped down bare. The water was a little warmer than he expected, but it still felt very refreshing. Holding his nose, he submerged his entire body to get his hair wet.</p>
<p>"I would kill for some conditioner right now," Kagome muttered. She was busy scrubbing her hair as best as she could, with what she had, which was literally just water and her fingertips. Thankfully her wavy hair was usually pretty easy to comb out, but she swore it was getting progressively worse the longer she was in the past. She could feel some knots that proved too difficult to easily pull apart.</p>
<p>Inuyasha emerged from the water, sputtering a bit, and shook his head to get the water out of his ears. Once that was done, he started to scrub his body with his hands, only to freeze in the middle of action. His ears had picked up the sound of childish giggling, which definitely did not sound like Kagome's laughs. He quickly whirled around and spotted a small kitsune up on the rocky peninsula, playing with Kagome's bra.</p>
<p>"Hey, drop that!" Inuyasha yelled, as he leapt out of the water onto the rocks, momentarily forgetting the fact that he was completely naked.</p>
<p>At the sound of Inuyasha shouting, Kagome had jumped and turned towards the rocks, despite knowing he was on the other side, just as he landed on top of them. She yelped with shock as she saw he was totally naked. "I said no peeking!" she screamed, flinging her hands across her chest, as she had partially risen up out of the water.</p>
<p>"I'm not peeking!" Inuyasha yelled back, then his eyes widened as he realized he gave her quite a show just now. He hurriedly covered himself with his hands and gave the rocks a super fast glance over, noticing that all of their clothes were gone. "Some little fox stole all our clothes!" he yelled. "Where the hell are you, you little runt?"</p>
<p>The branches rustled above them. Inuyasha snapped his head up, eyes darting all over, until he spotted the little demon sitting high up on a branch, still playing with the elastic of the straps of the bra. He immediately leapt up, grabbing a branch and pushing off of the trunk with his feet, to try and navigate up. The little fox leapt higher and higher and then disappeared from the tree.</p>
<p>"Haha, I'm down here!" a tiny voice called, from the ground.</p>
<p>Inuyasha growled and glanced down. "Goddamn it. Get back here! Drop that!" As he leapt down from the tree with cat like agility, the kitsune disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He coughed a bit, fanning the air, and leapt out of it, to catch sight of the little bushy tail sticking out from behind a tree. With a huge leap, Inuyasha was there in a split second, only to find nothing.</p>
<p>Now the giggling came from a bush to his right. Inuyasha whirled about, chasing after the sound, only to find himself face planting into the dirt when something slammed into the top of his head. It took him a moment to get the damn thing off, but when he did, he was furious. "Stop playing games, you rotten little fucker!"</p>
<p>Back in the lake, Kagome had dared to scramble out of the water in search for her clothes, in case there was some chance that Inuyasha had overlooked them somehow. They were nowhere in sight. "What the hell is going on!" she screeched. All she could hear from within the trees surrounding her was crashing and an awful lot of profanity. When she felt a tap on the back of her calf, she screamed and leapt back into the water to cover up.</p>
<p>"Hello!" said a little demon boy. He had bright red hair and big green eyes, and the biggest, bushiest tail she had ever seen.</p>
<p>"Who are you and why are you bothering us?" Kagome screamed. She was angry that he had seen her naked, for she knew that although he looked like a little boy, he very well could be hundreds of years old.</p>
<p>"Name's Shippo! And I am practicing for the fox demon exam!" he grinned widely at her. "Watch this!"</p>
<p>Kagome gaped as the kitsune transformed into a balloon and started to drift away, only to suddenly pop back into his previous form and land back on the rocks on his feet. A split second later, Inuyasha landed in a crouch next to him, grabbing hold of his furry fox tail and dangling him midair. Unwittingly, he ended up giving Kagome quite the view again, making her turn beet red and whirl away.</p>
<p>"If you don't tell me where our clothes are right fucking now, I will rip your tail from your body in three, two,-" Inuyasha threatened, only to have his countdown interrupted by a marble-sized ball flung at his face, which erupted in a cloud of dust.</p>
<p>Kagome shrieked as Inuyasha immediately choked up and fell forward, off of the rocks and almost right into her lap. He hit the water with a loud splash, limbs flailing, as he struggled to right himself. He was coughing and gagging so hard right now he couldn't do anything but wheeze.</p>
<p>"I took down the big dog demon!" Shippo laughed maniacally, as he leapt side to side on the tips of his toes, doing a victory dance.</p>
<p>"That wasn't very nice, Shippo," Kagome said sternly. She glanced sideways at Inuyasha, who was burying his face in his hands, still having a fit, as he coughed up the water he just inhaled.</p>
<p>The kitsune laughed and danced in place. "Well, he wasn't very nice to me!" he declared in his shrill voice. "He kept chasing me and threatening to kill me! I just wanted to play! He's a big meanie!"</p>
<p>Kagome did her best to try and give him a smile. "I think there was just a big misunderstanding here." Clearly chasing the little boy around like a murderous madman hadn't worked, so a different approach just might do the trick. She was glad to see that his tap-dancing slowed down a good bit, as he seemed to listen to her. "You see, my friend was just upset, because he thought you took our clothes."</p>
<p>"I did take your clothes!" Shippo declared proudly. "I am practicing for the fox demon exam and I am going to win!"</p>
<p>"Right, so you did take our clothes. So Inuyasha, that's my friend here, had good reason to be upset with you," Kagome explained, trying to be as kind and patient as possible.</p>
<p>"He said he would rip my tail off!" Shippo howled.</p>
<p>Kagome shifted in the water, glancing at Inuyasha again, to see how he was faring. He was still growling like mad and splashing water at his eyes, so he hadn't recovered quite yet, apparently. "I'm sure he was just joking and didn't actually mean that. Kind of like how you didn't mean to be mean to us, by taking our clothes. Will you please return our clothes to us? That would make me very, very happy if you did that."</p>
<p>"But he was about to rip my tail off!" Shippo protested again. "I should turn the clothes into mushrooms!"</p>
<p>"He did say that, but Inuyasha says a lot of things he doesn't mean. I know he would never rip your tail off. I would never let him," Kagome was doing her best to calm the little kitsune down. Fortunately he seemed to be willing to at least listen to her. "Those clothes you ran off with, those were mine too, and I haven't done anything mean to you. It would hurt my feelings if you turned them into mushrooms."</p>
<p>That made Shippo frown and droop his posture slightly. "But…"</p>
<p>"Please?" She flashed him her prettiest smile, and to her delight, the little kitsune nodded and disappeared in an instant.</p>
<p>"I still can't see!" Inuyasha moaned. Dropping his hands from his face, he turned his head a bit, towards the sound of Kagome's voice.</p>
<p>"Don't look at me!" Kagome gasped, and immediately shoved his shoulder, so that he toppled backwards into the water.</p>
<p>Inuyasha growled as he flailed in the water on his back, arms and legs struggling to help him right himself. His head felt like it was being crushed and fast movements made him dizzy. "I literally just said that I can't fucking see!"</p>
<p>Kagome laughed lightly. "Oh. I guess I missed that part. Sorry."</p>
<p>Moments later, Shippo returned and dropped the big handful of clothes on top of the rocks. "Here. I brought your clothes back. This thing is so funny. What is it for?"</p>
<p>"Nothing that you need to worry about!" Kagome squeaked, her eyes bugging out when she saw him play with the red lacy bra she had been wearing and put it on top of his head, with a cup on each side by his ears. "Please just put that down, ok?"</p>
<p>"Fine," Shippo sighed. He had been having such fun playing tricks on the two of them, but he found himself wanting to make the pretty girl happy. Reluctantly, he dropped the weird piece of clothing that smelled like her on top of the pile he brought back.</p>
<p>"Shippo?" Kagome smiled, as she paddled a little closer to him. "Thank you for bringing the clothes back. Did you make sure to return every single thing you took?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and then smiled when he nodded rapidly. "Perfect. There's one more thing, though. My friend here seems to be blind and in pain, and that makes me very sad. You threw something onto his face that made him this way, right? So you can help him get back to normal?"</p>
<p>Shippo bit his lip and looked back and forth between the two of them. "But…but…he wanted to kill me!"</p>
<p>"I know he didn't actually want to kill you, trust me," Kagome gave him a comforting smile. "Remember? He was just angry and when you're angry, you say and do things you don't mean. We all do, even you have, I am sure. I know you don't like him very much right now, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could make my friend go back to normal. If anything, do it for me, not for him. Ok? It makes me very, very sad to see him like this."</p>
<p>"Ok," Shippo told her sullenly. He did feel a bit bad, for making her upset. She was nice and he liked her.</p>
<p>Kagome gave the little kitsune another smile. "Shippo? I'm not sure what exactly that fox demon exam you mentioned consists of, but I just know that you have the potential to be the best, sly little fox out there. I want you to show me just how <em>powerful</em> you really are, by bringing my friend back to total normal. If you can do that for me, then I have no doubt you will win first place!"</p>
<p>That made Shippo grin from ear to ear. "I am the most powerful! I will be the most famous kitsune in the world! Watch this!" Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out another ball and threw it at Inuyasha's face. A more sparkly cloud enveloped him, making him cough once again, but this time less painfully.</p>
<p>Inuyasha sneezed loudly and then blinked several times, as the world around him came into view again.</p>
<p>Kagome grinned as she watched his eyes gain focus, only to gasp a second later and push him back. "I said don't look!"</p>
<p>Shippo laughed as he watched the two of them in the water. They reminded him of his parents a little bit. Speaking of his parents…"I gave you your clothes back and his eyesight back. Now I need to go home since my parents don't like me out too late in the day. They say that big, scary dog demons lurk about and want to eat me."</p>
<p>Kagome laughed as the kitsune stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha. "Well, you better go home then. We are trying to go home ourselves as well. That's why we really needed our clothes back. You did such a great job tricking us today. I'm know you'll pass your fox demon exam with flying colors!"</p>
<p>"I'll have the best grade of them all!" Shippo boasted proudly. "You two should name your next child after me! Shippo the most greatest kitsune!" With that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.</p>
<p>Inuyasha and Kagome turned to stare at each other with incredulous looks on their faces, before bursting into laughter. "What the actual hell just happened?" Kagome giggled.</p>
<p>"Fucking kitsune, I swear to god," Inuyasha grumbled. "Nothing but trouble." He paused, glancing over at the girl next to him. Her wet hair made nice little ringlets against her pale skin, that he suddenly found himself wanting to play with. With a sigh, he forced himself to look away, because he was very much aware that they were completely naked and in very close vicinity to each other, and he had quite the active imagination.</p>
<p>"Better to have that kind of trouble than actual trouble than the danger trouble though, right?" Kagome asked lightly.</p>
<p>"I suppose," Inuyasha muttered. Running a hand through his bangs, he sighed. The headache was almost gone now at least. He started to rise up out of the water, making Kagome turn away from him to give him some privacy. The cooling air felt good on his skin. He climbed out of the lake and dug through the pile of clothes, growling when he realized that the lying little fox had only returned Kagome's clothes. He was going to have to hunt down his own clothes himself.</p>
<p>"Here you go. Might as well get yourself dressed while I look for my clothes. The son of a bitch left them scattered around somewhere," Inuyasha told her, dropping the balled up bundle on a large flat rock at the edge of the pool.</p>
<p>"Alright. If you need help looking for anything, just…" Kagome began, as she inadvertently glanced his way out of habit. <em>'Holy shit,'</em> she thought in a daze, as she gaped up at her good looking companion. He was standing there, dark silver hair soaking wet and sticking to his shoulders and arms, with nothing but his hands covering himself. Her eyes slowly trailed down his bare chest and perfectly muscled stomach, pausing as she stared at his hands. '<em>Both hands,'</em> she thought with a small grin.</p>
<p>Turning bright red, as she realized what she was doing, Kagome's eyes darted back up to his face to see him giving her quite the smirk. Out of embarrassment, she instantly stuttered something inaudible and whirled away from him.</p>
<p>"I should be able to sniff my clothes out," Inuyasha told her. He was quite surprised by Kagome's rather positive reaction to him just now. Initially he had been a bit embarrassed at being so naked, but seeing the way she clearly checked him out, and obviously enjoyed what she saw, greatly stoked his ego. Being admired wasn't exactly anything he was used to experiencing. It was cute how flustered she became all of a sudden.</p>
<p>Kagome merely nodded and sank into the water a little deeper. "Uh huh, yeah. Of course you can," she agreed, her voice high and faint.</p>
<p>"I'll, uh, go look for them now," Inuyasha told her, backing away to where his clothes were. He disappeared in a flash, hurriedly hunting them down before anything else came along and ran off with them.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Kagome sat blinking in the water, the image of him standing there naked still ingrained in her mind as she replayed it over and over. <em>'Oh my'</em> she thought, as she found herself thankful for the cold water.</p>
<p>
  <em>A/N: Still fangirling in my mind over the first episode of Yashahime! Six months of episodes to look forward to, please don't disappoint. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of the new art style though. I'm pretty sure Miroku has the new ability to see straight into your soul with those giant eyes of his now. Sheesh. Some characters look good and others not so much. The original series was so beautifully drawn. Inuyasha's attacks have weird sound effects as well. Feel free to review if you're enjoying it so far lol...I'm trying.</em>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Great Fang</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They had been traveling for a few days and were still a good distance away from their destination, but were making steady progress. Springtime was beautiful, and Kagome found herself marveling at the green everywhere, and the vast amount of wildflowers in the fields. The high mountains still had a lot of snow on their peaks. It reminded her of Colorado, and she found herself wondering if she would ever move back to the States someday.</p>
<p>Having stopped for a midday break, Kagome picked some fruits for them to eat while Inuyasha hunted more rabbits for them to eat. It was getting a little tiring, eating the same few foods for every single meal, but they didn't have much option out here in the wild. Perhaps if they had a village to stay in for a while, they could expand their menu.</p>
<p>"Hey, Inuyasha, can you shoot my bow for a bit? I'm starting to wonder if it's the bow itself that is causing problems, or if really is just me that sucks at shooting." Kagome asked. Her friend was busy sharpening the bone knife he had been working on, after he broke the first one he attempted to make in the process. She had donned her modern day clothing once again, while her kimono was hung to dry from being washed, and was lounging on a rock enjoying the afternoon sunshine.</p>
<p>"I'm sure it's just you that sucks, but let me see," he smirked at her. Wrapping the knife up and sticking it in her little burlap sack, he took her bow and arrows and aimed at a tree. She got up and followed him to observe.</p>
<p>Kagome laughed when his shot missed. "And you say that I suck."</p>
<p>"Do you?" Inuyasha raised a brow at her, his voice low and teasing.</p>
<p>"Shut up!" Kagome blushed and smacked his arm with the back of her hand. She wasn't quite sure how he meant that, for she felt like they teased each other more and more. Sometimes there were suggestive undertones in their jokes, but she just couldn't tell if it was her wishful thinking and imagining it, or if they were <em>actually</em> flirting.</p>
<p>Inuyasha notched another arrow and aimed more carefully this time, paying more attention to the bow as well. He frowned when his arrow fell short. "I think it does need some adjusting. Probably need to tighten the bowstring. Let me see if I can fix it some." He fiddled with it, trying to increase the tension, which was a little hard since his claws got in the way and he was trying not to slice the damn string.</p>
<p>After tweaking it a bit, he fired another arrow and was pleased to see it shoot off more effectively. When he hit the tree four times in a row, he gathered the arrows and brought them to Kagome. "The bow is fine. Now let's see how badly you suck after all, Kagome." She gave him a look as he emphasized each of the three syllables of her name.</p>
<p>Grabbing the bow and arrows, she sauntered over to where he had been standing to shoot, and took a deep breath as she readied her first arrow. The bow felt a bit tighter now, and she was sure she was going to hit her target at long last.</p>
<p>Or not.</p>
<p>"Oh come on!" Kagome groaned, when she missed the tree widely. "That was just a fluke. I'll get it next time. Watch me!"</p>
<p>A slow grin formed on Inuyasha's face as he folded his arms and watched her attempt to shoot with much frustration. She was cute when she got all annoyed, he had to admit. There was something about the little faces she would make, and the funny little growls. Was she sure she wasn't part inuyoukai? "Verdict's out. There's a solid ten out of ten that say…you <em>suck</em>."</p>
<p>Kagome glared at him haughtily. "Fine. I <em>suck</em>. Are you happy now? You're a much better shot than I am."</p>
<p>"Oh, I knew that even without seeing you attempt to shoot a bow!" Inuyasha laughed at her. Unfolding his arms, he stepped closer to her. "You're shooting them hard enough to hit the tree, but your stance is terrible. Want some pointers? I'll give them to you for free."</p>
<p>"Well, aren't you the generous one," Kagome smirked sarcastically at him. Her gaze followed him as he walked around to stand behind her. When he put his hands on her hips to correct her stance, her breath hitched and she had to remember to breathe. He was saying something to her, but she forgot to listen to what it was until he had stopped talking. Next he raised her elbow a bit and angled her upper body just a bit.</p>
<p>"Now hit the damn tree, woman!" Inuyasha whispered loudly in her ear. Suddenly aware of how close they were, his ears drooped nervously, and he took a step back, worried that she might not like him invading her personal space. When she managed to hit the tree, well off center, but at least the arrow struck the tree, he clapped. "You're still shooting to the side," he told her. Stepping closer, he leaned down a bit to try and line his head up with hers to see how she was looking at the tree. He adjusted her stance just a bit, since she needed to aim more to the right, and then stepped back to watch.</p>
<p>"I feel kind of funny when I shoot," Kagome said, after sending off another three arrows, two of them hitting the tree. She dropped the bow and turned around to frown at him. "Like…something deep inside of me feels funny. I don't know how to explain it, but I only get that feeling when I'm aiming the bow."</p>
<p>"Nervous about sucking?" Inuyasha teased, as he raised a brow at her. She shook her head. "Well, it's probably because you aren't used to projectile weapons like that. You're not shooting a toy. That thing could kill a person. It's like when somebody is learning to shoot a gun, often times you get this weird feeling. You know how deadly your weapon can be, and it can completely unnerve you."</p>
<p>"Maybe that's it," Kagome sighed. "I don't feel it anymore, so you're probably right. The more I get used to it, I'm sure it will end up going away at some point." Turning back around, she got into stance once again and was about to shoot, when she felt Inuyasha grab her elbow and adjust her arm again. "Oh yeah, too low. I'm trying to remember it all," she told him.</p>
<p>"It just takes practice, is all. Just keep doing it how I showed you and soon you'll be more of a pro with that thing than me," Inuyasha declared. He watched her practice for a few before getting tired of it, and they decided to move on after filling up their water flask at a nearby stream. Kagome had also joined the life of crime by nabbing it at the last village they had passed through.</p>
<p>As Inuyasha knelt down, Kagome gave a small sigh as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and got into position. She had to admit that it was actually kind of fun, getting to ride on his back like this. It also made her feel tall, being up this high, for he was roughly six foot, or about eight inches taller than she was. His muscles tensed under her touch, and a moment later she felt like she was flying.</p>
<p>"Oh, no!" Kagome groaned, when they finally reached what appeared to be the coast. It was a very foggy morning, and visibility was quite limited. She dropped her head down, banging her chin on Inuyasha's shoulder.</p>
<p>"What's wrong?" he asked, side-eyeing her as he grabbed the backs of her knees and shifted her a bit.</p>
<p>Kagome sighed and lifted her head to look at him. "I'm an idiot for not thinking about this earlier, just because the map is so tiny. Sapporo is on Hokkaido. And Hokkaido is an island, not attached to mainland Japan. So this is as far as we go, unless you're capable of swimming across that long stretch of sea. By yourself, that is, because there is no chance in hell I'd be getting into that water."</p>
<p>"Ah, fuck," Inuyasha groaned. His ears flattened in annoyance. "Then how do we get to Sapporo? The water looks kind of rough, and building boats isn't exactly the sort of thing I'm skilled at. Also there's no chance in hell I would be going into the water like that either."</p>
<p>"Not like there is anybody around to ask," Kagome noted. They hadn't seen a village in over a day. "Maybe we should travel along the coast until we find somebody that can help us somehow?" Inuyasha nodded and crouched down in preparation to spring, when Kagome squeezed his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey, before you start running again, can you give me a minute to put the kimono back on? It's so chilly and wet here."</p>
<p>"Sure," Inuyasha dropped further down to his knee and let her slip off. He watched over his shoulder as she pulled the kimono out of the bag and slipped her arms into the big sleeves. She loosely tied the obi just so the kimono didn't hang all the way open and then climbed onto his back again.</p>
<p>Kagome felt the damp fabric of his t-shirt as she wrapped an arm around his upper body. Between the fog and mist, and the humidity, everything was damp. "Aren't you cold, Inuyasha? You can always put on the other kimono that I found. It might be a bit small, but better than just your shirt?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha shook his head. "Nah, it's alright. I'm pretty tolerant of the cold. All the running keeps me warm enough. Thanks though." He squeezed her leg and gave her a small grin. "You ready?"</p>
<p>"Ready, boy," she teased, reaching up to ruffle the top of his head with one hand. A large crow up in the branches above them cawed loudly, making her jump and reflexively tighten her knees around his sides. She glanced up with a laugh. "Oh man, that thing scared me half to death."</p>
<p>Inuyasha smirked back at her and took off with a giant leap. He raced along close to the shoreline, hoping they would eventually come along some kind of fishing settlement. It was going to be an ugly day, with the sun almost completely obscured by thick gray clouds, and heavy fog blanketing the land, as far as he could see.</p>
<p>Eventually they stopped to take a break, and to check out the miniature map, to see how far away they had gone, for earlier they seemed to have been at the closest point to Hokkaido. As Kagome slung the knapsack from her shoulder, Inuyasha's ears perked up, for he thought he heard something in the air above them.</p>
<p>"Maybe we-" Kagome began.</p>
<p>"Shhh," Inuyasha hissed, as he elbowed her in the side gently. His eyes were darting all around, trying to see if he could spot whatever it was out there. All he could see was gray mist rolling all over the place.</p>
<p>Kagome noticed his tense stance and quieted down immediately. She was starting to get scared, for she could tell even he was nervous. "What is it?" she dared to ask, her voice too low for her to hear.</p>
<p>"Don't know," Inuyasha whispered back, when he turned his head towards hers, his eyes searching the sky above her head. Suddenly there was a terrible, loud squawk from somewhere behind Kagome's back. In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha pulled Kagome behind him, and took a defensive stance between her and the spot the sound had come from.</p>
<p>A huge shape began to emerge from the fog. Whatever it was, it was taller than Inuyasha, and far wider. "Stay behind me," he growled lowly. His ears were still swiveling, for he was trying to detect if there were any others around, in case it came in a pack. What struck him as weird was that it was moving slowly, shuffling loudly towards them. If it was a predator, it was a pretty lousy one.</p>
<p>It squawked at them again, as it shuffled closer. Inuyasha could make out the bird beak first, and then blinked, when he realized it was a walking skeleton. "What the fuck?" he exclaimed. The creature tilted its head as it got closer, signaling it knew they were there, but it didn't seem to act in a hostile manner.</p>
<p>Kagome grabbed the back of Inuyasha's shirt as she huddled behind him and dared to peek around his side. He sounded surprised and had stopped growling. "What is that thing?" she exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she noticed the walking dead bird. Or was it something else? The creature was using its wings like appendages to aid with walking on the ground, which was the source of the shuffling noise.</p>
<p>"I have no idea. Some kind of bird or dinosaur?" Inuyasha reckoned. It walked like a dragon but the head was completely avian. "I'm betting it's an undead dinosaur. Because why wouldn't it be? Totally normal here, right?" he asked her sarcastically. His senses didn't pick up any others aside from the one in front of him. Whatever it was, it seemed a little curious about them. His stance relaxed, but he still kept a wary eye on it as it got closer. He found it fascinating, for he had never imagined he would ever see anything like this.</p>
<p>The dinosaur bird opened and closed its beak, making a clacking noise, and started to turn when it was only about four feet away from the couple. Once its side was fully facing the two, it dropped down and folded its legs underneath its body. Inuyasha just eyed it, feeling confused. The bird turned to look at them and squawked quietly, before twisting its neck to poke itself in the side.</p>
<p>"Why is it laying there like that?" Kagome whispered. She had been clinging to Inuyasha but as the animal showed no signs of aggression, and he relaxed, she also started to relax.</p>
<p>"I don't know. Maybe it just wants to rest, so let's just let it be and keep going on our way so we can figure out how to get to the island," Inuyasha decided. He stood straight and was about to step back to give it a wide berth, when the creature hopped back onto its feet and let out an irritated sounding squawk.</p>
<p>Inuyasha quickly took his defensive stance once again, but to his surprise, the bird only moved closer, keeping its side facing them. When it turned its head to them and then jabbed its side a couple of times, before nudging Inuyasha's hand with its long pointy beak, his mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Call me crazy…but..I think it's trying to say something," he whispered to Kagome.</p>
<p>"Well, I don't speak dino bird. What do you think it wants?" she wondered. It was quite an amazing creature to see up close. Made entire of skeleton, even the wings, but moving around as if it were whole. Clearly it had to be kind of youkai.</p>
<p>"I don't want to be wrong, but I think it wants us to get on its back," Inuyasha said. "That's why it keeps pushing its side towards us, and jabbing its own side with its beak." He paused and glanced at the skull, with its two huge empty eye sockets. The animal was creepy but beautiful all at the same time. "Am I right?"</p>
<p>To his surprise, it made a happy sounding chatter and nipped at his jeans. At least the thing was friendly. Kagome just stood there a bit dumbfounded, as she watched the whole encounter. "We are actually going to <em>ride</em> the bird? What!?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha turned towards her and shrugged. "I mean, what else are we going to do right now? Life is one big adventure out here, don't you think? Maybe we can convince it to take us to that big island that should be there on the other side of the water. After all, the bird seems to understand what we are saying."</p>
<p>"Alright. Let's just do it. Not like we have a ship to sail or anything," Kagome agreed. The idea made her laugh quietly. By the time they got back home, she was going to be able to write a novel just on the bizarre experiences she had in medieval times.</p>
<p>Inuyasha debated how they should ride, ultimately deciding for Kagome to sit in front. It would be easier to hang on to her and protect her if they should fall or get thrown off somehow. "Here, step up and I'll give you a leg up," he told her, holding his hand out for her to get a foothold.</p>
<p>Kagome raised her eyebrows and stepped closer to the huge bird. Its back was almost as high as her head. "I don't want to fall through the ribcage," she worried. She grabbed a rib and wrapped her fingers around it, using it for balance while she put her right foot on Inuyasha's outstretched hand. He easily pushed her up, slowly enough so that she could use her hands to grasp the bones and kind of climb as she went, until she was high enough to swing a leg over its back. "Whoa!" She could feel its body moving beneath her, rising and falling slightly, as if it were actually breathing.</p>
<p>Inuyasha leapt up in a single bound and gracefully landed on its back. He dropped down to straddle it and scooted close behind Kagome. "I'm not going to let you fall," he said quietly, his breath tickling her ear a bit. Once they were seated, the bird stood up, jolting them around on its back. He quickly wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist and reached forward with his free hand to grab its rib-bone that was just in front of her leg. His legs were clenching the ribcage behind hers, and he was satisfied that she wouldn't budge unless he did, which was very unlikely.</p>
<p>Seconds later, they were airborne. Between the close proximity to Inuyasha, and the fact that she was riding a fucking skeletal bird, Kagome's heart was pounding like crazy. Having always been a fan of roller coasters, and having ridden on Inuyasha's back for hours on end the past week or so, she wasn't the least bit fazed by the flight part. It was more of an enjoyable rush of adrenaline as the bird swooped and rose, gaining altitude as it soared high over the land.</p>
<p>"This is amazing!" Kagome laughed loudly, when they banked to the right. With all the fog on the ground, all they could see was the green mountains with snowy peaks that rose up above the low clouds back in the direction they came from. Beneath them, the fog slowly became more sparse, and they could see dark blue shining through. Soon they could see that there were more mountains up ahead, the lush green contrasting nicely against the blue sea.</p>
<p>All too soon, the ride was over, and Inuyasha hopped down first so he could give Kagome a hand so she didn't fall. "Well, you showed up out of nowhere just when we needed you," Inuyasha spoke, glancing at the eyeless skull that was angled back at them. "Hopefully we will be just as lucky when we need to get back to the other side. Uh, thanks for the ride."</p>
<p>The bird gave them a happy chatter before rising to its feet and shuffling away, only to take flight once again, disappearing rapidly into the misty sky. Kagome was still a bit giddy from the ride. She checked the map again to see where exactly they had been dropped off, and determined they had to go vaguely north northeast.</p>
<p>It took another couple of days for them to get close to the red x on the map. The land here wasn't as quite as steeply mountainous as Honshu, but it was definitely colder, mainly at night. At least they had campfires to stay warm by.</p>
<p>"We have to be getting close," Kagome muttered. She gripped Inuyasha's shoulders, as she twisted around to glance at the scenery that flashed past them. It was less populated up here, and they hadn't seen a town since the first day.</p>
<p>The early morning sun rays cast a golden light on the green fields, which was so beautiful, Kagome thought. She was comfortable in the lower temperatures, since she had both kimono layered on. Inuyasha had refused to throw one on, so she decided to put both to use for herself.</p>
<p>After a while, Inuyasha slowed his pace. His ears were trained forward, as he picked up sounds. Lots of sounds, and they were familiar. "I hear birds," he commented.</p>
<p>"Like crows?" Kagome asked. She tried hard to listen, but it was to no avail. Her humans ears were quite lacking at this distance.</p>
<p>"No. More like undead dinosaur birds," Inuyasha grinned at her. "Probably a dozen of them, at least. And they seem to be in the direction we're supposed to be heading."</p>
<p>Eventually they came across a huge field, where several of the dinosaur birds were scattered about. The noise was them arguing whenever one got too close. "They seem territorial," Inuyasha commented. At their arrival, half of the birds turned and faced them, quieting down. A sudden loud squawk had a couple of the smaller ones scattering, as a large skeleton bird rushed forward, straight for the two of them.</p>
<p>Although the first one they had encountered was not aggressive, Inuyasha still found himself taking a defensive stance in front of Kagome, one arm around her waist in case he needed to get them the hell out of there. Despite rushing at them, the bird suddenly skidded to a stop and just lowered its head, extending its neck out towards them.</p>
<p>"I guess we're going for another ride," Inuyasha grinned at Kagome, when the large bird turned and showed them its side. This ones spine was almost level with Inuyasha's head, but she had no trouble getting onto its back with his help. He held onto her like before, which proved to be a good idea, for this bird was more daring in its aerial movements. They looped and circled through the air, rising higher and higher as they made their way towards a very large mountain range. Kagome found herself a bit afraid on this bird and subconsciously grabbed at Inuyasha's forearm, gripping it tightly. Sensing her fear, he tightened his arm around her waist to help her feel more secure.</p>
<p>Up ahead, there was another thick blanket of fog, and they were heading straight for it. As the bird swooped down into the cloud, both Inuyasha and Kagome choked a bit, as they inhaled the thick fog. It stung their throats, and had a bit of a strange odor to it. Seemingly oblivious to the suffering of the passengers on its back, the bird sped forward through the fog. How it was able to navigate, they had no idea, since there was zero visibility, and they were both rather afraid it would somehow fly straight into the side of a mountain of something.</p>
<p>"This fog!" Kagome sputtered, as she attempted to gasp for breath. It felt so heavy, and every breath of hers was ragged.</p>
<p>Behind her, Inuyasha let out another cough. It wasn't that bad for him, more annoying than anything. "You ok? There's something weird about this fog." He let out a short cough. "Hey, bird! Can you hurry up and get us out of here?" He wasn't entirely surprised when the thing just let out a loud squawk at him. If only he could actually see the ground, he would have been tempted to grab Kagome and leap off with her. He could feel her body shuddering as he kept her pulled close for safety.</p>
<p>Thankfully, the air cleared all of a sudden, as they emerged from the edge of the massive cloud. A vertical cliff wall was to their left, uncomfortably close, with a large stretch of forest beneath them. "Kagome!" Inuyasha called, as he gratefully took in a deep breath of clean air. "You ok now?"</p>
<p>"Yeah!" she gasped, her eyes still watering a bit. That last bit had not been a fun experience, and she was feeling slightly dizzy now from the whole ordeal. She was grateful for Inuyasha's arm wrapped tightly around her waist, for otherwise she would likely have fallen off from being so dazed. It took her a few minutes to actually recover</p>
<p>Once they were almost to where the treeline ended, the bird started to fly more horizontally, its head tilting down as if it was searching for something. Kagome shrieked a bit when they took a sudden nosedive, making Inuyasha tighten his grip around her waist. It was such a thrill, he thought, as they rushed towards the ground. There was a clearing amidst the trees, where there was a massive armored skeleton, as big as a multistory building.</p>
<p>As they neared the ground, Kagome shrieked even louder, and even Inuyasha felt his heart thud, but bird suddenly veered to fly low over the ground, its massive wings straight out as it glided to a stop.</p>
<p>"Oh, I can't walk," Kagome laughed lightly, once she was on the ground, for her legs felt like jelly. "Give me a minute." She had to catch her breath after that flight. Once she was fully recovered, Inuyasha started to lead the way.</p>
<p>"This has got to be the place," Inuyasha told her, his voice hushed in awe. "That gigantic inuyoukai skeleton there is The Great Fang, first of my bloodline, from what I've been told. I don't know how he died but I know it was thousands of years ago. This would have been his true form. Amazing, isn't it?"</p>
<p>Kagome smiled a bit as she watched the wonder display itself on his face. It was truly impressive to see the massive skeleton, and she wondered what he would have looked like in all his glory. As it had been thousands of years, his remains had become rather weathered, with numerous vines entangling themselves across the body, as if he was slowly being reclaimed by the earth.</p>
<p>While they were busy gawking over the skeletal remains of The Great Fang, they didn't notice a tall, white haired figure emerge from the forest behind them. "Who goes there?" a low voice spoke, making Inuyasha whirl around, his mouth dropping open in shock.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Great Dog General</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Inuyasha felt his heart stop when he lay eyes on his father. Although he had grown up not knowing him, he had seen photos of the man, so he always knew what he looked like. Even without the pictures, he was sure he would have known, for it was as if he could actually just sense it. Instead of the modern clothes he wore in the pictures he had, his father was dressed in a white kimono with blue and a black chest plate. He also had spiky shoulder pouldrons and forearm guards. A sword with a big round white orb at the pommel adorned his hip.</p>
<p>Beside him, Kagome stood silently, staring at the strange man that had appeared out of nowhere, who was now slowly striding their way. Everything about him exuded power and strength. The resemblance between this man and Inuyasha was quite strong. His long hair was a bit more white than Inuyasha's, and up in a ponytail rather, and he had the same sparkling golden eyes. The biggest difference, aside from their ears, was a jagged purple stripes on each cheek, and he had a more square jawline. As he drew close, they realized he was also a few inches taller than Inuyasha, who was almost six foot himself. There was no doubt in her mind that this was his father, Inu no Taisho, or Toga, as Inuyasha had told her he preferred to go by the shorter name in modern times.</p>
<p>At a total loss for words, Inuyasha just stared at the man who would become his father in a few centuries from now. He felt like the biggest fool on earth before such a great man. What could he even say to him? Any and all ideas he had come up with had been completely forgotten.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho's eyes narrowed as he approached the frozen pair, his nose twitching slightly as he took in their scents. He remained silent himself, as he closed in on the duo, circling them slowly, as his sharp gold eyes took in every detail of the oddly dressed hanyou and the young female that clung to his side. Kagome felt a bit unnerved just standing there, as he deeply scrutinized both of them. When he circled around in front of her, her eyes widened when they met his sharp gold ones, for she felt they were about to pierce her very soul right about now.</p>
<p>Still silent, Inuyasha managed to hold his father's gaze when the elder youkai moved on to pause directly in front of him, staring long and hard. Pursing his lips, Inu no Taisho remained just as quiet for several long moments. "How very interesting," he commented at last, his voice a bit terse.</p>
<p>Inuyasha fidgeted a bit as he tried to think of something to say. "What's very interesting?"</p>
<p>"You," Inu no Taisho responded. His face had tightened a bit and was currently hard to read. "Both of you. Girl, a mere human as yourself should not have been able to pass through the fog that disguises this place. And as for <em>you</em>, we have never met you before, yet we are clearly of the same bloodline. There is no mistaking that." He discreetly sniffed the air and narrowed his eyes, as he continued to study Inuyasha hard. He was equally confused and curious. "But we don't just share the same bloodline, we are closely related. Very closely related. You are mine, yet I know I did not accidentally sire you without my knowledge, for I have never lain with a human mortal before, as mildly interesting as they may be. How is this even possible?"</p>
<p>"Well…it's a long story," Inuyasha lamented. He was going to have a good bit of explaining to do, and wasn't quite sure the best way to go about it. "But yes. You are my father." He stared into the golden eyes that resembled his own, although they were a little darker, with more bronze around the center. Although five hundred years younger here than in the pictures he had, his father looked exactly the same.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho turned to walk away and glanced over his shoulder. "Then I suppose we better find somewhere a little more suitable for long conversation. Follow me. Both of you." The three of them walked into a gaping hole at the bottom of the armor, where it was emerging from the ground. Glints of metal shone through the various weeds and vines that covered it. The inside of the skeleton was mostly rocky and barren, for very little light made it in.</p>
<p>Kagome stuck close to Inuyasha, for she felt as if there were eyes watching her from all over, even though it appeared that it was only the three of them. When the wind whistled in through the bones and cracks of the armor, she swore that she heard voices. Perhaps the skeleton was haunted, which made sense, since it was a dead body that they were walking through. The very idea made her shiver, and she was only half aware that she had reached for Inuyasha's hand, intertwining her fingers with his.</p>
<p>When Kagome had grabbed his hand, Inuyasha had been a little startled, but he then sensed the nervousness radiating from her, so she figured she just needed the comfort. There was a definite, strong presence here, he could sense it. Most likely it was The Great Fang himself, and not just another random spirit taking up residence in his skeletal remains.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho leapt up to one of the lower ribs and proceeded to zoom from bone to bone, making his way up the skeleton. "Guess we're going up to the skull," Inuyasha commented, as he knelt down to let Kagome jump on his back. With a few long jumps, he made it to the collarbone and then leapt up through the jaws. Taking a moment to make sure Kagome was hanging on securely to his back, he carefully climbed out an eye socket to get to the top of the skull.</p>
<p>Up on top, on the vast gently rounded crown of the skull, Inu no Taisho had stopped, gazing out across the horizon for a moment before turning around to eye the two strangers. "Now, apparent son of mine, perhaps it is best if we start with formalities. However, I take it there is no need to introduce myself," he asked, raising a brow.</p>
<p>"I suppose not. My name is Inuyasha," he nodded with a slight bow.</p>
<p>"And my name is Kagome. I'm Inuyasha's friend," Kagome chimed in, giving him the same courtesies.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho nodded back at them and dropped down to take a seat on the surface of the skull, the other two quickly following suit.</p>
<p>"So, um, how did you have Myoga set out to summon us here, if you obviously haven't been aware of my existence here in the first place?" Inuyasha blurted out quickly. That question had been foremost in his mind for a while now.</p>
<p>"I didn't send Myoga out to summon the two of you, specifically," Inu no Taisho replied. "I had merely sent him out on a mission to sniff out those who may be of use to me, those who might interest me." He paused and let out a short chuckle. "I had no idea that he would be sending an unknown son of mine my way. That was the last thing I had been expecting. Which brings us back to why we came up here. Now tell me the tale of how you two came to be here," his father commanded, as he studied the strange couple while he spoke.</p>
<p>Inuyasha relayed the events of the past three weeks, starting with how they were in the shed at Kagome's shrine on her twenty-first birthday. His father listened intently, his face solemn and hard to read. "So you came all the way from the future. That is not something that has ever been known to happen before, but I suppose there is a first time for everything. How far in the future did you come from? You in particular dress rather oddly."</p>
<p>Inuyasha smirked. "Well, this is normal in my time. About five hundred years in the future."</p>
<p>Beside him, Kagome felt rather glad that she was currently dressed modestly in her feudal age kimono, although her jean clad legs were visible and clashed oddly with the top half of her ensemble.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho raised a brow at that. "I imagine much else has changed, in that amount of time, then. I don't need to know just how much though, for I suppose I'll see for myself, soon enough." He paused, quietly musing over the tales of their adventure in his mind for several long minutes. It seemed like it should be too far-fetched to actually be the truth, but he knew that it wasn't just some tall tale.</p>
<p>"Agreed, I think it's best to avoid talking about anything that isn't present day," Inuyasha replied hastily. He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, just from his timeline crossing his father's so unnaturally, but it couldn't be helped apparently. Perhaps in retrospect it hadn't been wise to come here after all, but what was done was done. "Earlier you said you were looking for people who might be of use to you, and apparently we fit the bill, so I'm wondering what exactly you were wanting from us?"</p>
<p>"I think the flea Myoga was mostly interested in me though, for some strange reason," Kagome chimed in. "He said I have some sort of strange power, so I assume that is what makes me useful in your opinion?"</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho turned his attention to the girl, eyeing her over once again. She was young, and quite pretty for a human, he had to admit. "What can you do with this strange power of yours?"</p>
<p>Kagome shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea. I didn't even know I had any sort of powers, not until I ended up in this time. Apparently my powers are what helped me survive the centipede demon attack, so other than that, I don't know what to say."</p>
<p>"Then you better figure out what your own powers are, and that is something only you will be able to do, by yourself. Most likely your powers may be dormant, but there must be some way to draw them out of you. If Myoga found your blood so interesting, they must be valuable then. Most likely that is also what allowed you to gain access to this sacred tomb," Inu no Taisho informed her. "It would be most wise to figure out what they are, and soon. With the Sacred Jewel having been brought back, war is imminent."</p>
<p>"You're not the first to mention this jewel," Inuyasha informed his father, frowning a bit as he recalled the vague bits of information he had gotten from Kaede on the subject. "What's the deal with this thing, anyway? I just heard it caused a lot of deaths and then it vanished somehow. Why does this damn jewel have to cause so many problems?"</p>
<p>"Well, given that you come from five hundred years in the future, I suppose the tale has become lost through the ages," Inu no Taisho mused. "The Shikon Jewel, or the Jewel of the Four Souls, is a powerful jewel that grants immense power to whoever has possession of it. It enhances the demonic energy of any youkai that possesses it, making them larger, stronger, faster, far more deadlier. So this jewel is greatly desired amongst demons, and to a lesser extent, humans as well. It has been said to have been around for at least two hundred years, but has always been guarded by the most powerful of the miko. Many demons have tried to take possession of this jewel, and have failed. From what I've heard, the last miko that was guarding it nearly lost the jewel to a powerful demon known as Naraku, and nearly lost her life as well. She managed to vanquish the jewel at the time, but it seems not permanently."</p>
<p>"That last miko would have been Kikyo, then," Inuyasha frowned, as he put the pieces together from what his father just now told him, along with Kaede's information from a couple of weeks earlier.</p>
<p>"So if this jewel is so coveted by demons, and you're a demon, have <em>you</em> tried to take possession of the jewel?" Kagome dared to question. "Or are you hoping to attempt to take possession of it this time around, now that the jewel is back?" She was a bit afraid of his answer, but she had to know. It worried her that he was planning to use the two of them for his own personal gain somehow.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho merely hmphed at that. "No. I have no interest in this jewel. As a daiyoukai, I have too much pride in my own strength and abilities to want to resort to being powered up by some fancy bauble. The jewel may have the ability to give one a ridiculous amount of power, but at the cost of losing one's soul in the process, for the jewel becomes tainted by demonic energy. I have no interest in being reduced to some mindless creature."</p>
<p>"That's a relief," Kagome nodded. "And more respectable that way. However, if you're not seeking this jewel out to use for yourself, then you wouldn't need us to try and hunt down the pieces on your behalf, which is what I had been assuming might be the reason you were looking to obtain useful people."</p>
<p>"Correct. I'm not looking to collect all of the pieces of this jewel so I can use it for my own personal gain. Rather, I am seeking out ways to put an end to this madness, for once and for all this time. I rather enjoy this world we live in, and I'd like to keep it that way. With all of the wars as of late, the shattered jewel is only going to add far more fuel to the fire, as even a piece of it will allow one to increase their own strength. I fear it will be even more catastrophic this time, because of that, and as Lord of the Western Lands, I have my hands full protecting my lands and people. I've heard whispers that Naraku has broken free of his seal and will no doubt attempt to seek the jewel out once again. With additional powerful allies, surely Naraku can be defeated for good, this time."</p>
<p>Inuyasha frowned a bit at that. "So we're the allies then, and you want us to go to war with you against this Naraku guy."</p>
<p>"Wait, what?" Kagome exclaimed, sitting upright as Inu no Taisho nodded in response. "You want us to join a way and help defeat some bad demon? We aren't exactly cut out for this sort of thing. Well, maybe Inuyasha might stand a fighting chance, but not me. I'm no warrior, never been much of a fighter at all, and I don't even know what it's like to live simply, like the villagers here do. This isn't our world, well, not the world we are familiar with, I should say."</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho shot her a hard look. "This <em>is</em> your world now. You're here, aren't you?"</p>
<p>Kagome opened and closed her mouth, for she technically couldn't argue with that. Currently they were stuck here with no ideas on how to make it back to the future. "What happens if we just hang low and sit this out? I mean, he does get killed regardless, otherwise we never would have been born. Right? Why should we get involved in your war? We aren't <em>from</em> here!" She was suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the entire ordeal and quite stressed. How she missed her old life, of shopping, school, and hanging with her friends.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho regarded her somberly. "You are part of this war too, simply for <em>being</em> here and by bringing the jewel back. If you were to just sit back and allow Naraku to carry on with his plans, then complete destruction is certain and we are all doomed. Not just those of us in this era, but the future as well. If Naraku was to be successful, you world as you know it will most likely never exist. The decisions you make now can change the future. Your loved ones may never exist, or your future may be one filled with angst and suffering. Naraku must not be successful in collecting all the shards to complete the jewel. I assure you he is not the only demon after those shards as well, but he is the worst of them."</p>
<p>"So we have to run around collecting these shards so the bad guys don't get them, and kill the main bad guy, in order to save ourselves and our future," Inuyasha sighed. "I suppose we are doing it for ourselves just as much as we are doing it for you."</p>
<p>"Correct," his father nodded.</p>
<p>Inuyasha groaned to himself. If only he and Kagome had never gone into that shed and fallen down the damn well. "So we have a big fight on our hands then, don't we? How strong are all these various demons anyway? Will they be as hard to defeat as that centipede one was? That thing put up a hell of a fight."</p>
<p>"You had trouble with a centipede demon?" Inu no Taisho asked incredulously, unable to hold back the surprised snort upon hearing that. "Those are nothing but pathetic two-bit demon. No son of mine should have the least bit of trouble killing one of those."</p>
<p>"Well, apparently I did," Inuyasha grumbled back at him. "Fighting's not exactly the sort of thing I've done a lot of, you know?"</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho scoffed at that. "We might need to see what you're capable of then, boy. Why don't you take your woman down below and find a safe space for her to stay, and then I'll put you to the test." With that, the elder dog demon lightly leapt to his feet and disappeared off the rounded edge of the skull, his fur cape flowing out behind him.</p>
<p>"He thinks I'm your woman?" Kagome couldn't help but grin a bit at Inuyasha. Just as she was in the process of pushing herself up to her feet, she found herself being scooped up bridal style, and then airborne as Inuyasha took a flying leap.</p>
<p>"Guess so," was all he could say. Although she wasn't actually his woman, she was the closest he ever had. It would be an outright lie if he had tried to say he hadn't felt a pang of longing when his father spoke that assumption. Perhaps one day he may become so lucky.</p>
<p>As Inuyasha leapt down off of the skull, Kagome let out a surprised squeal and threw an arm around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder. She hadn't expected him to try and make it to the ground in one huge leap, resulting in the sensation of her heart lurching into her throat. The way she suddenly clung to him made him laugh a bit. "I'm not going to drop you ever, I swear," he told her in response, as his ears picked up a few muffled words.</p>
<p>After setting her down along the inner edge of the tomb, Inuyasha turned to try and catch a glimpse of where his father had gone off too. He was nearby. "So, what exactly are we—" In the blink of an eye, he found himself being knocked clean onto his back.</p>
<p>"Lesson one, don't let or keep you guard down," Inu no Taisho told him crossly. He was a little surprised that he had knocked his son over that easily, for he hadn't even moved at full speed. Clearly he had his work cut out for him. He cast a glance at Kagome, who had dropped down to his son's side, observing her fuss over him for a moment. "I would advise you to stay clear for the time being. He'll be fine, just had the wind knocked out of him a bit. Get up, boy."</p>
<p>"You're not going to hurt him too badly, are you?" Kagome couldn't help herself ask him worriedly.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho cast her a sidelong glance. "I'll be as hard on him as I need to. Right now he's just a boy, and he needs to learn to fight like a man. Otherwise he's as good as dead, and that'll happen sooner than later. There's only one way to get stronger, and I suppose I'll have to do whatever it takes. So stand back and keep out of our way."</p>
<p>Kagome meekly backed away per the elder demon's request, unable to help but worry a bit as she watched Inuyasha get himself up, only to be knocked backwards once again, a stream of cursing escaping his mouth as he slammed into the dirt floor.</p>
<p>"I would see if you are able to attack back, but looks like you can't even defend yourself long enough to attempt to do so in the first place," Inu no Taisho told him. He rushed in from the side, sending Inuyasha hurtling off to the left. "You leave yourself wide open. Pay attention and use your senses."</p>
<p>"What the hell do you think I'm trying to do?" Inuyasha coughed, as he landed with one knee and hand on the ground. Before he had the chance to make it back to his feet, he was knocked flat to his other side.</p>
<p>"Not much of anything, from the looks of it," his father retorted. "Get up."</p>
<p>Inuyasha just growled and got to his feet, preparing for another attack. He had always thought of himself as fast, but he didn't hold a candle to his father. Time after time, he found himself unable to dodge the incoming attacks. It frustrated him to no end, and he was having a hard time keeping his temper in check. His father's strength was impressive, and he knew he was going easy on him. That made it all the more maddening. Was he really that pathetic?</p>
<p>At long last, Inu no Taisho finally let up. "That's enough for one day. We will sleep here. Training will continue in the morning. I will go hunt you something to eat so that you can regain your strength and energy," Inu no Taisho told them, before turning tail to disappear into the woods. Even he was a little concerned at the state his son was in, but he knew he would heal quickly, thanks to his demon blood.</p>
<p>With his father gone, Inuyasha winced and groaned as he sat on the ground, leaning against a smooth boulder. Kagome was at his side in an instant. "Are you going to be ok?" she asked him worriedly, for she had seen the tail end of the beating he had gotten. He had hit the dust a lot, for his black shirt was now gray and tan. Numerous scrapes marred his handsome face.</p>
<p>"Maybe," Inuyasha let out a weak laugh. "<em>Fuck</em> that hurt. Wondering if I cracked a rib."</p>
<p>Kagome's eyes widened and she immediately tugged at his shirt. "Let me see how badly you're hurt."</p>
<p>Inuyasha just shook his head. "It's fine. I'll be ok by morning I'm sure."</p>
<p>"I'm not taking no for an answer," Kagome narrowed her eyes with determination. "Let me see where you got hurt." Her tone made Inuyasha give her a bit of a wide-eyed look, and he obliged by briefly pulling his shirt up, giving her no more than a quick glance at his bruised ribs, but it was long enough for to gasp over the extent of the damage. "You're hurt way too badly," she frowned deeply, as he let out a strangled cry when she touched his side.</p>
<p>"It's fine," Inuyasha winced, for he was trying not to show her just how much pain he was actually in.</p>
<p>Kagome grabbed his forearm and stared hard at him. Why did men have to be so stubborn? She could tell he was in agony, as he wasn't able to hide it as successfully as he thought he could. It wasn't just his ribs that had been injured, he was covered with small cuts and bruises all over his arms as well. That funny feeling deep in her gut had returned, the same one that she felt when she had been attempting to practice her archery skills. Except it was stronger now, and she could tell it wasn't just nerves at possessing the ability to kill something with her own two hands. Maybe…</p>
<p>"Listen here, Mr. Tough Guy, lay down and take your shirt off," she commanded him. "I have no idea what I'm doing, but I want to try something."</p>
<p>"Wouldn't I have to take my shirt off before laying down?" he smirked at her, which just earned himself a glare. "I'm telling you, you don't need to try anything. I'll heal…just takes a little time."</p>
<p>Kagome shot him a haughty look. "I am not taking no for an answer. I know full well you can heal, but perhaps I can do something to help you heal a little faster, or at least just make you feel a little better. Maybe I can't do anything at all, but I won't know until I actually try. Your father said that I have to figure out some way to unleash whatever powers I have, so let me just try something. That funny feeling came back, and I think it's trying to tell me something. You got to practice fighting, so now you need to let <em>me</em> practice whatever the hell it is that I may be able to do."</p>
<p>Inuyasha gazed back at her, a bit awed by the determination flashing in her blue eyes. How could he keep saying no to her? She was a powerful little wench. "Alright," he sighed. Pushing himself away from the rock, he scooted closer to her, so that she could access his back as well. He really was in a good bit of pain right now, and secretly hoped that she would be able to take some of it away, even if he wasn't going to outright say so.</p>
<p>Happy that she won that argument, Kagome grinned to herself and started tugging on his shirt to get him to remove it. She could tell he was moving stiffly, and favoring his left arm and shoulder as well. Her eyes widened as he was fully shirtless this time, revealing the bruising was far more extensive than she had originally realized. A sharp pang radiated deep in her gut as her eyes roamed his badly bruised flesh, making her desire to take his pain away intensify. To get a better look, she grabbed all of his hair and shoved it over his right shoulder to keep it out of the way.</p>
<p>Inuyasha shivered a bit when he felt her fingers trail across his tender flesh. They were cool at first, but then started to grow steadily warmer. Unnaturally warmer, he thought, after a couple minutes had passed by. "What's going on back there?" he asked, only to feel the warmth instantly fade.</p>
<p>"Shhhh," Kagome hissed loudly, before laughing. "I'm trying to concentrate here. I think I actually did something! I could feel this weird warmth start to come out of my hands. Do you feel any better yet?" She had discovered that as long as she willfully yearned to heal all of his wounds, that weird sensation of hers seemed to flow steadily from her core.</p>
<p>"I just felt your hands get crazy warm pretty quick. Think you need to do it a bit longer before I actually feel different," Inuyasha told her. Keeping his mouth shut so as not to break her concentration, he sat there and closed his eyes, focusing on the warmth of her hands as she placed her palms on his side and back once again. It felt very soothing and his entire body began to relax.</p>
<p>That was how Inu no Taisho found them, when he returned from the hunt, a small boar draped over his shoulder. His son was sitting on the ground without his strange top on, his head hanging a bit, while Kagome knelt behind him, her eyes closed and her hands on his back, a soft pink glow coming from her palms. He simply observed them for a minute before quietly speaking. "So, it appears that somebody has made progress today, at least. I was curious as to what she may be capable of, but those healing powers make sense, given how she survived the centipede. Now, come do what you want with this boar for dinner. You're going to need a lot of energy tomorrow."</p>
<p>A partially healed Inuyasha sighed and got to his feet, grabbing the boar to bring it over to where he could start a campfire and gut and cook their dinner. Inu no Taisho accepted the cooked meat his son offered him, and decided it wasn't all that bad, although he still preferred it raw.</p>
<p>A thunderstorm suddenly began to roll in, large rain droplets falling while the wind picked up, causing the fire to flare. Fortunately they were just about done eating, so Inuyasha put the fire out and grabbed the last chunk of good meat to save for later. Since they were all sleeping inside the bottom of the skeleton for shelter, he slunk off to the other side after dinner, just so his son could have some privacy with his female.</p>
<p>
  <em>A/N: Last chapter had a few comments on the giant skeleton grave being Inuyasha's father. Daddy had to be alive in modern times in order to father our favorite hanyou (who is 23 in this version of the story) so he couldn't have already been dead in feudal times haha. I did keep the design of Inu no Taisho's grave in this story but instead of it being him, I made it their first ancestor. Had to come up with a name so I went with The Great Fang, but I don't know how you would say that in Japanese. Toga means Fighting Fang, and Inu no Taisho means Great Dog General. So I guess their first ancestor in this story had a combination of the two names Inuyasha's father is known as.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I was a little hesitant to even include Inu no Taisho in the story at all, but figured what the hell. A great youkai such as himself was bound to cross paths with Inuyasha at some point.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Lessons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>During that first night there, Inu no Taisho had departed at some point, so silently that even Inuyasha didn't detect him disappearing as he slept. It was only in the morning did he realize that his father had gone. They weren't alone though, for Myoga had made another appearance, and jumped up to attempt to suck his blood this time, which resulted in him being temporarily flattened.</p>
<p>"I'm not food. And what are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked, as he pinched the little flea to hold him up.</p>
<p>"Master Inu no Taisho requested that I stay and inform you he will be returning by midday today, so not to be concerned at his absence and leave," Myoga reported.</p>
<p>"Right. Now don't bite me again," Inuyasha flicked the flea aside and lay back down. He felt pretty good this morning, as Kagome had healed him a bit more before they fell asleep the night before. Since there was plenty of food left over from the boar, he chowed down, filling up on the protein. When Kagome woke, she didn't look too thrilled at the cooked, cool meat, but she ate a decent amount.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho returned early to mid afternoon, carrying a large red bundle. "This is for you, Inuyasha. You'll find it rather useful, I'm sure, far more so than the strange clothes you currently wear. This fabric is woven from the fur of the fire rat. Go change and we can start more official training."</p>
<p>"It's so red. And bulky," Inuyasha commented, as he held the garments up. There was a kimono top and a pair of hakama pants, both the same shade of fire engine red. As ordered, he ducked out of sight to change his attire. When he returned, he could see Kagome's amusement as his new wardrobe choice. It was hard for him not to feel a bit silly, for it wasn't exactly the sort of thing he had ever worn before.</p>
<p>"Do I look that weird?" he asked her. She was sitting on a boulder, reclining slightly with her hands on the rock behind her back, holding herself up.</p>
<p>Kagome just grinned at him. "Only a little. You kind of remind me of Santa though, but if he was young and sexy." The words escaped her mouth before she had a chance to realize what she was saying, and she couldn't help but blush as his eyes widened for a second in surprise.</p>
<p>"You're crazy," Inuyasha muttered at her. Secretly he appreciated the accidental compliment. Did she really think that of him? He hoped so, even if he did think she was a bit crazy for having such an opinion. His father strolled over to join them, giving them the chance to focus their attention elsewhere and let the awkwardness fade away.</p>
<p>"You look more like a proper inuyoukai now," Inu no Taisho said with approval. "I wore the robe of the fire rat previously, back in my youth, before I became the Ruler of the Western Lands. Now it is yours. Maybe one day you'll have a son to pass it on to as well."</p>
<p>"Hah. I'm way too young to think about being a father," Inuyasha smirked. The robe was heavy fabric, but not overly warm. It also came with a tan kosode, which peaked out in the seams on the shoulders. Crumpling up his modern day clothing, he shoved them into Kagome's yellow knapsack for safe keeping.</p>
<p>Once again, Kagome hung around so she could watch them train. And by train, it was really watching Inuyasha get his ass handed to him. It was clear that he was getting frustrated quickly, for he spent more time being knocked to the ground than he did standing. All he could do was try and block his father's attacks, and never managed to get the chance to attempt to deal a blow in return.</p>
<p>"You're as slow and clumsy as ever," Inu no Taisho snorted. He was concerned at their lack of progress since yesterday. It seemed so odd to him that his son had never actually been in a battle before. He had declined receiving any knowledge about the future, but he guessed that he had been born in a time of great peace, and that was all he had known growing up. In these current times, being soft like this was a death sentence.</p>
<p>Inuyasha groaned as he found himself flung about fifty feet once again, hitting the ground hard on his left side, as he hadn't been able to right himself in time to land on his feet. Most likely his rib was cracked once again, judging by the sharp pain that suddenly intensified in his side as he made impact on the rock hard dirt. His father lashed out another attack, which he barely dodged.</p>
<p>"You're too hot-headed and don't try to think very critically about your opponent," Inu no Taisho chastised him, after his son snarled out more curses from the ground. "Try learning to read my movements and calculate what I may do next. We can't move on until you start figuring out how to actually dodge my blows."</p>
<p>They continued sparring, and Inuyasha attempted to slow down and think, taking his father's advice. Sure enough, he slowly began to have success in evading the attacks. He wasn't sure if his father was intentionally slowing down, or if he was actually improving on his own, but either way, he was glad that he seemed to make at least some progress.</p>
<p>Although the fire rat robe did offer a lot more protection than his jeans and t-shirt, Inuyasha still found himself a bit bruised and banged up, especially on his forearms, where the sleeves fell back. Once again he allowed Kagome to work on honing her healing abilities as they sat around the fire cooking dinner that evening. He wasn't going to admit it, but he was enjoying having her fuss over him, and he did like the warm tingle her healing powers gave him.</p>
<p>The next morning, Inuyasha did his best to start his training session out with a clearer head, struggling to keep his temper from getting the best of him. He found that he spent less time eating dirt today than he previous had. "Is it just me or are you getting slower?" he smirked to his father, as he quickly dodged his fist, albeit by a hair.</p>
<p>"You're getting faster," Inu no Taisho replied, the tiniest of grins on his face. "Might even be able to land an attack on me, at some point, if you keep it up."</p>
<p>Eventually Inuyasha found himself able to dodge at least six or seven of every ten attacks. He definitely was getting faster, but he was still sloppy, and had yet to deal a blow of his own. They had taken to sparring in the forest, engaging in a high speed chase through the trees, using the giant tree trunks as an added challenge to work on dodging and maneuvering skills.</p>
<p>As his father rushed for him once again, he dodged to the right, only to pause as he heard the thunder of wood splintering. A second later, he launched himself up just in time to avoid a massive oak landing right where he had been standing. "What the fuck?" Inuyasha exclaimed, glancing between his father and the tree that had just been taken down.</p>
<p>"You don't even know your own claws. Unfortunately that doesn't surprise me," Inu no Taisho told him dryly. "Let's see if you can figure out how to use them on your own. It's a deadly attack, using your own youki, and not the only one your claws are capable of. This one is sankon tessou." Without pause, he slashed at the air again, golden arcs flying out of the tips of his claws. Inuyasha had to leap out of the way once more, when another tree came crashing his way.</p>
<p>The chase was on once again, this time with Inuyasha dodging the attacks that came from his father's claws, along with miscellaneous branches and small trees. <em>'So that's youki?'</em> he thought to himself. If it came out of his father's claws, that must mean he was channeling it or forcing it out somehow. <em>'How the hell do I actually channel it?!'</em> It took several attempts, but eventually he managed to have some yellow sparks fizzle out of his own claws.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kagome had decided to continue figuring out her own abilities. Off in the distance she could hear the faint sound of commotion, and she couldn't help but wonder what they were up to. The training was pretty hard on Inuyasha, but she knew his father was holding back accordingly, to what his son could handle for the time being.</p>
<p>Sticking close to the giant skeleton, she spent the majority of the rest of the day shooting arrows at trees. That funny sensation came back again, and she had been working out how to channel it through her weapon. That part turned out to be a bit easier than expected, with the difficult part still being successful at hitting a small target.</p>
<p>That night, Inuyasha found himself distracted by a faint pulsing sensation. It almost sounded like a heartbeat, kind of. He was puzzled, for his nose wasn't detecting any living beings in the general vicinity, save for the three of them. It was coming from the very back of the tomb, behind the giant column of spine that supported the Great Fang.</p>
<p>"What is it?" Inu no Taisho asked, cocking his head a bit as he studied the young hanyou. He had been observing his son's subtle looks of suspicion and confusion, every time his eyes flicked to the far right.</p>
<p>Inuyasha shook his head and frowned. "Don't know. It seems like I'm feeling some kind of pulse. Tell me you can sense it as well?"</p>
<p>"I don't sense anything like that," Kagome frowned and sat up a little straighter. "Is it something dangerous?"</p>
<p>"No, not at all. I myself can not sense the pulse, however I know exactly what it is. Only you can sense it, because it is calling out to <em>you</em> specifically, Inuyasha. I'm a bit surprised that you are able to sense it already," Inu no Taisho mused.</p>
<p>"What <em>is</em> it though?" Inuyasha asked, leaping to his feet. He was curious now and started to make his way towards the rhythmic pulse. It was soft and gentle, luring him in. Kagome rushed to her feet to tag along and see what he was acting so strange. Behind them, Inu no Taisho made his way at well, to witness it.</p>
<p>Making his way around the spinal column, the pulsing got louder the closer he got. Upon reaching the center of the back, he stopped dead in his tracks, blinking in confusion. "A sword? That's what is making the pulse?" There, stuck deep in the boulders behind the vertebra, were three swords. His attention was immediately drawn to the middle one, as if some sort of unnatural force was pulling him in.</p>
<p>Silently, Inu no Taisho stood there with arms crossed, watching his son stare at the sword before reaching out to grasp the hilt of the one in the middle. Slowly, he pulled it out of the boulder. His eyes widened in surprise. "Tessaiga? You were chosen by Tessaiga?"</p>
<p>"I don't know. Is that the name of this sword or something?" Inuyasha frowned, as he held the blade up to examine it. The entire length of the blade was full of nicks. Even the hilt looked a bit of a mess, covered in tattered strips of cloth rather than being neatly wrapped. "Why is is all beat up? I don't think this sword can even cut paper right now."</p>
<p>"Yes, that is the name of the sword. And there is more than meets the eye, with Tessaiga. If it was in its true form, it would never fit inside its sheath," Inu no Taisho explained. "It's not a mere mortal sword, like the humans carry about. With time, you will learn its techniques and it's secrets. You can feel the power in it, can't you?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I can't really describe it, but I am sensing some sort of energy. Where is the sheath?" Inuyasha asked. Turning his head as if he sensed it, he started to walk over behind another cluster of boulders, as if he was silently guided there. To his surprise, he uncovered a black sheath with a red sageo. At least the sheath appeared to be in decent shape, unlike the blade. Tessaiga fit perfectly, and with the sword now sheathed, he rejoined the other two.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho merely watched him, pondering what just happened here for a few long moments. "Looks like the sword is now yours, since it allowed you to both grasp it and withdraw it. However, that was just the first test you passed. In order to truly possess the right to wield it, you need to be able to actually use it. I do suppose it is fortunate that a legendary sword such as Tessaiga has its own mind, so to speak, and can choose a master, for that particular sword is coveted by many inuyoukai. In particular, your brother. All of his attempts to possess Tessaiga have failed, as he couldn't grasp the sword without getting severely burned. He has resentment towards the sword that chose him, Tenseiga."</p>
<p>Inuyasha blinked in surprise at that. "I have a brother?" he exclaimed.</p>
<p>"Yes. A full-blooded youkai brother named Sesshomaru. He is very much the opposite of you in terms of demeanor, which is very likely why Tessaiga consistently rejected him. Like me, he is extremely powerful, of course, but he is much like his mother in terms of non-physical traits. This sword here, named Tessaiga, possesses the power to destroy anything in its path, even an entire village, but its true purpose is to defend human life.. While Sesshomaru seemed very interested in the sword, most likely for its sheer destructive power, Tessaiga itself denied him the right to wield it. The sword has energy of its own, and a mind of its own, it seems. It takes a powerful youkai to be able to wield such a sword, which Sesshomaru is, however his heart is not in the right place," Inu no Taisho explained.</p>
<p>"So it was a surprise it chose me, because you don't consider me a powerful youkai?" Inuyasha asked gruffly.</p>
<p>"No, I have no doubt you possess a sheer amount of untapped power, you simply lack the experience and current ability to fight at your full potential. After all, it is my blood that flows through your veins, even if you are a hanyou. If you didn't have the potential, such a legendary sword would never have chosen you," his father replied.</p>
<p>"This sword is legendary?" Inuyasha asked, raising his brows as he unsheathed the damaged blade to take another look at it. "I hope it's made out of something sturdy, because it looks like it will break the next time it hits something."</p>
<p>"It is made out of a canine of this very skeleton we stand inside of, the Great Fang. As I told you, it is not just a regular human sword. A handful of legendary swords were made from his teeth, including Tenseiga, and So'unga, which is the one I carry. My advice is to listen to your sword, respect your sword, and learn from your sword. Now that you've obtained a sword of your own, I suppose we may as well incorporate it into our training tomorrow.</p>
<p>While the men fought, Kagome spent most of the time by herself, practicing hitting the target, but also on drawing out that weird sensation she got whenever she was aiming the bow. Eventually she had been able to shoot arrows that glowed and sparkled with pink light. It was pretty freaking awesome, she thought, although she wasn't sure just yet what it actually <em>did</em>, aside from look cool.</p>
<p>For what seemed to be the thousandth time, Kagome raised her bow, taking a deep breath as she narrowed her eyes and aimed the arrow. Power flowed through her, and a pink glow enveloped the arrow. "My hands are killing me," she murmured to herself. Having fired her arrows for hours on end, day after day, her fingers were quite raw. At least her healing powers worked on herself, but they still ached, and the pain kept coming sooner than before. She was determined to push herself through the pain though, because in a real life battle, she wouldn't be able to stop and heal her fingers every two minutes.</p>
<p>"Noooo," Kagome groaned in frustration, when the arrow grazed the side of the tree trunk. She had improved quite a bit, but was just getting tired. Even lifting her bow up made her arms ache. Just as she was about to go fetch the arrows, since her quiver was now empty, she found herself crashing to the ground, as something large pounced on her. She let out a shriek of panic, as she expected to slam into the ground, only to find herself being gently laid down, as Inuyasha prevented her from a hard landing.</p>
<p>"You gotta learn to pay attention to the demons that'll sneak up on you from behind," Inuyasha teased, baring his fangs a bit at her. "First lesson is don't keep your guard down."</p>
<p>Kagome punched his shoulder hard. "I'll get you back for that, I swear. Scaring me half to death like that."</p>
<p>"Oh, you can try," Inuyasha teased her again, before leaning down to playfully headbutt her upper arm. He had her pinned beneath him, and he found himself liking the fiery look she was giving him right now. With a smirk, he reached down and pinched her side. Kagome just squealed and grabbed his shoulders, shoving him onto his back so that she could attempt to wrestle him.</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho merely watched his son with his friend, as he called her, with much puzzlement. They were currently rolling around on the ground, but it was clear that they were pretending to fight each other, although his son seemed to have no problem with readily taking a submissive position to her. It was a great mystery to him, how they still remained so oblivious to each other's feelings, when he could see the obvious attraction as clear as day. He sighed, for in due time they were sure to realize it. It was also a very strange method of courtship, in his opinion, but she seemed to like it.</p>
<p>After taking back dominance once again, with their little wrestling match, Inuyasha started to playfully push Kagome onto her side in the soft grass, when the scent of blood made his nose twitch. Forgetting all about their play fight, he froze for a second before quickly grabbing her hand to take a look at it. "What did you do to yourself?" he frowned, observing the red, blistered skin on her fingers.</p>
<p>"I was just practicing archery until my fingers were about to fall off," Kagome grimaced. She must have opened the wounds somehow during their playful little romp, for she was suddenly aware of the dull ache.</p>
<p>"Don't do that, dummy," Inuyasha retorted.</p>
<p>"I need to. You're not the only one who needs to work at getting stronger," Kagome argued back. "Besides, it's fine. I can just heal myself and be good as new. Watch." To her surprise, instead of letting go of her hand, Inuyasha merely kept her fingers cradled in his, with his thumb gently pressing the inside of her fingers. She had to squirm a bit to move her other hand to her injured one, so she could channel her healing powers onto the injured flesh.</p>
<p>"I'm all for you getting stronger, but don't wreck your own body. That's my job. To wreck my own body for training purposes, I mean," Inuyasha muttered at her. "My body was made to handle it, unlike you."</p>
<p>Kagome started to protest, but thought the better of it. She knew he was just saying that out of concern for her, and not insinuating that she was weak. "I'll try to be more careful," she told him. He nodded and released her hand, now that she was done healing her blisters, and let her scoot away to get to her feet. It took her a moment to brush all the grass and dirt off of her kimono, thanks to their wrestling match.</p>
<p>Leaping to his feet as well, Inuyasha bent over to retrieve his sheathed sword, to secure at his hip once again. As he peered around to see where his father was, he realized the two of them were alone. Before he could open his mouth to comment on that, the sound of something very large crashing through the forest made him spin around, his heart instantly racing. Whatever was coming their way was moving fast, and he could sense some serious youkai radiating from it.</p>
<p>A split second later, a massive white dog-like creature burst forth from the trees, snapping a few in half as if they were matchsticks. Between the loud growls rumbling from its throat, and the slightly crazed look in its eyes, Inuyasha instantly deduced that it was not a friendly pup. Just as he was about to grab Kagome and leap away with her to get her someplace safe, the dog was on them in a single bound, knocking him into the side of a tree with a single swipe of its paw. Sharp claws raked across his chest in the process, staining his robe with his blood.</p>
<p>Inuyasha let out a painful grunt as his back collided with the tree, just barely catching himself as he then landed face first onto the ground. The dog had skidded to a stop, its huge paws leaving wide trenches in the ground, as it whirled around to face him. "Kagome, run! Get inside the tomb!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. If this thing was after him, it would be best for him to not rush back to her to drop her off somewhere safe. Right now she was roughly halfway between his current position and the Great Fang.</p>
<p>The huge demon dog snarled and rushed in to take a bite at him, its massive jaws snapping shut around the tree he had been standing in front of less than a second ago. Inuyasha's heart was pounding at that close call. He could smell the toxic saliva of the dog, and the leaves and grass on the ground sizzled as droplets of saliva hit fell.</p>
<p>In an attempt to lure the giant beast away, as Kagome still had a ways to go before making it into the opening of the tomb, Inuyasha used his newly discovered claw attack to incite it a bit to keep its attention on him. How he was actually going to defeat or stop this thing, he had no idea. However, the dog merely ignored his attack and instead, turned tail to lurch itself in Kagome's direction.</p>
<p>"Oh, fuck no!" Inuyasha snarled, his eyes wide open in horror. The human girl was still running back around to get towards the opening in the giant skeleton, which was in the front, but as they had been playing around in a clearing that was a bit downhill from the tomb, she wasn't making very fast progress with the incline. His heart pounding with sheer panic, Inuyasha rocketed forward at full speed, as the dog leapt towards her as well.</p>
<p>Between the two of them, the giant dog was faster, and landed in front of Kagome, effectively blocking her path to escape. She screamed and tumbled back a bit, as the dog opened its mouth to snarl at her, toxic saliva dripping from its gums.</p>
<p>On his hip, Tessaiga pulsed as Inuyasha closed the gap between them, leaping in to put himself directly between Kagome and the snarling, hungry looking dog. "Stay the fuck away from her!" he yelled, grabbing the hilt of his sword to pull it out and aid with shielding her, as he landed. So caught up in the commotion was he, that he didn't even feel Tessaiga's second pulse, and it took him a full moment to realize that he was now wielding a six foot sword.</p>
<p>At the sight of the fully transformed Tessaiga, the dog froze in place, before beginning to shimmer. Within seconds, it was gone, replaced by Inu no Taisho himself, standing there with a wide grin on his face. "Well, well. I almost didn't think you would have it in you. Took extreme measures, but now we have proof that Tessaiga has chosen you." He couldn't help but chuckle a bit.</p>
<p>"What the <em>fuck</em> was that about?" Inuyasha shouted, as he pointed the sword straight at his father, fury blazing in his eyes. "You were seriously hell bent on attacking Kagome!"</p>
<p>"I was hell bent on seeing if you would actually be worthy of that sword or not," Inu no Taisho snorted. "We wasted enough time as it was, fighting with a rusty blade, so there wasn't much point in continuing if you didn't prove that you could use the sword in the first place. Fortunately, you passed this test with flying colors. I'm proud."</p>
<p>"I'm fucking pissed," Inuyasha growled, ears flattening as he glanced back to check on a wild-eyed Kagome, who seemed to have forgotten to take a breath. "Is that the key to getting this damn sword to work? Getting pissed off?"</p>
<p>Inu no Taisho snorted at him again. "If that was the case, it would have chosen your brother. The will to protect another, to protect a human, is what draws out the power of the sword. With the way the previous training has gone, apparently you don't have much will to protect another when it's only yourself in danger. Hence why I had to go after somebody you care deeply about."</p>
<p>Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. There was no denying it, for he would be outright lying. He had been attracted to her since day one, but they never got along all that well in modern times. Things between them had definitely changed once they fell through the well together, but was that just because they were the only familiar soul to each other in this strange world? Or did she also have similar feelings? Right now he was feeling a bit vulnerable at hearing that so blatantly stated, right in front of her nonetheless. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed that it was so obvious to others, especially someone who didn't really know either of them.</p>
<p>"Keh!" was all he could hiss, as he removed the tip of Tessaiga from his father's face and let the sword fall back to prop on his shoulder.</p>
<p>Amused, Inu no Taisho merely watched the emotions play across his son's face. "Well, now that we've established that bit, you just need to learn to work with Tessaiga to draw out its power at will. Now, let's see you try and fight with it, while you have it transformed the first time. Congratulations. You've officially and fully earned the right to wield the legendary Tessaiga."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Bad Company</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Inuyasha spent another couple of days training with Tessaiga, learning how to move with a huge sword, and how to readily have his sword transform at will. His training sessions were off and on, as his father had to disappear now and then for undisclosed reasons.</p><p>Eventually though, they did have to part ways at last, which was harder for Inuyasha than he had originally expected. Although he had memories of his father from when he was young, it had been such a long time ago. He wasn't exactly like the man he remembered, but then again he was now getting to know him at a different point in his life, under different circumstances. Even if he never got to see him again, at least he had these new memories. They would be cherished, even if most of them involved him getting his ass kicked.</p><p>Sensing Inuyasha's now dismal mood, Kagome hugged him from behind, before she positioned herself on his back. He had held her forearm and squeezed it gently, although he didn't say anything. They both remained quiet for the rest of the day, except for brief chatter when necessary. They were back on Honshu already, for their faithful dinosaur bird had showed up shortly after they left The Great Fang's skeleton.</p><p>Inu no Taisho had made the suggestion that they seek out a small village called Iwaki, located on the East coast, where the Demon Slayers originated. Perhaps they could convince one of them to join their cause, if they were lucky. So currently, that was where they were heading.</p><p>Having gone for nearly a week without a decent bath, they stopped at a large spring, which had a scenic waterfall. It was a short enough hike from the road, and they had found it, thanks to Inuyasha's ears, as it was completely out of sight otherwise. It wasn't the tallest waterfall they had seen, but it was rather wide, and a large volume of water flowed freely. What was unique about this one was that there were also hot springs in several natural pools along the length of the stream as it flowed away from the waterfall.</p><p>Inuyasha bathed first this time, and found it impossible to resist ducking under the waterfall, which was freezing cold. To his surprise there was a bit of an alcove behind it. No demons lurked in the shadows at least, so he bathed quickly and exited to dress, before trading places with Kagome.</p><p>To give her privacy, he went a short distance away, but far enough to where she would feel comfortable, and promptly leapt up into the tree branches, so that he could have a better vantage point. They had passed a few badger demons a while back, and while it wasn't likely they would come bother them all the way out here, one could never be too sure.</p><p>Since the girl was known to take her time bathing, he found a wide branch and perched with his back against the trunk, as he balanced himself with his legs out in front of him. The spring and waterfall were right next to a sheer cliff face, so if anything was to come their way, it would be from this general direction most likely. Nothing but birds flew around, chirping their little beaks off.</p><p>Using his ears and nose to detect any signs of danger, Inuyasha closed his eyes as he rested on the branch to drip dry. They had taken the opportunity to wash their clothes as well, which were now laying on some flat boulders to dry in the sun. Currently he was wearing just his hakama, and the breeze filtering through the leafy branches felt amazing on the bare skin of his upper body.</p><p>After a while he heard voices,, so he opened his eyes to try and see where they were coming from. They were faint, so still a little ways away. He listened in on them as he sat on the branch, eyes drifting back shut. A male voice was busy talking about saving and healing a bunch of villagers that had been attacked in the war. Another male voice chimed in with a laugh, talking about <em>attacking</em> villagers as part of this war.</p><p>That made Inuyasha quickly shift so he was in a better position to leap away and get back to Kagome if need be. He could not see the men who were talking, and realized they also had a woman with them. She was dressed in a lilac kimono and had heavy armor, which was a strange combination to him. There were only the three of them, and they were walking on the road.</p><p>Just when he thought they were going to keep wandering right past them, down the long road, the woman suddenly stopped and grabbed the arm of one of the men, the one with the long black braid. "Oh, Bankotsu, this is where that waterfall with all the hot springs is at, isn't it! Quarter a day's walk past the fork in the road, near the Peaks of Nara. We <em>must</em> stop so I can soak for a bit. The minerals here do wonders for the mind and body."</p><p>The woman was not a woman, Inuyasha realized, from the sound of his voice. And Bankotsu…that sounded familiar. Bankotsu. <em>'Oh, fuck!' </em>Inuyasha cursed silently, his eyes round as saucers when he recalled what his father had said. Before they parted, Inu no Taisho had warned them to keep an eye out for a band of criminals known as the Band of Seven and to avoid them at all costs. Rumor had it that they were in league with Naraku, although their purpose was not yet known.</p><p>Inuyasha was about to panic as the feminine one hiked up his kimono up to reveal a muscular thigh and started to enter the forest, heading straight for the area the waterfall was in. Where Kagome was currently bathing. A whole stream of curses quietly slipped out of Inuyasha's mouth as he leapt to another tree, before making his way to the ground with a soft thump. "You hear that?" he heard a distant voice ask.</p><p>"Meh. Probably just a deer or a boar. Land's full of them," was the response.</p><p>As silently as possible, Inuyasha raced back to the hot springs, where he had left Kagome. Most likely she would be in one of them, since she had more of a tolerance for hot water than he did. Just as he expected, she was in the larger pool, submerged up to her shoulders, facing away from him. Since the feminine man was rather quick on his feet, for apparently these hot springs were <em>really</em> calling to him, Inuyasha leaped straight into the hot springs behind her and clamped a hand to her mouth firmly.</p><p>Immediately she started to flail and attempt to fight him off, but Inuyasha held her firm. "Shh! <em>Danger</em>!" he whispered into her ear urgently, and thankfully she stopped thrashing the water about and making noise. They had to get out of there, and fast, for Inuyasha could hear the man running through the brush, sticks cracking under his shoes. He was in a cheerful mood apparently, because he had started singing loudly and badly. Most likely he hadn't heard all the splashing that happened a moment ago, but one could never know.</p><p>They needed to go somewhere safe and hidden, and fast. Inuyasha's eyes darted around, for they were kind of trapped between the sheer cliffs on one side, and three very dangerous men approaching from various points on the accessible side. However there was one place to go, and with Kagome held tightly in his grasp, he rushed across the large deep pool between the hot springs and the waterfall.</p><p>Kagome's face was flaming red as she found herself dragged around like a toy doll by Inuyasha, while she was fully naked. She had barely recovered from the damn near heart attack he had given her when she found herself with a hand over her mouth out of nowhere, only to end up like this, moments later. If not for him stating they were in some kind of danger, she would have killed him right then and there for jumping on her like that.</p><p>Inuyasha waded and paddled through the deep, ice cold water, ducking them behind the waterfall as fast as he could. The current was strong here, but not enough to pull them under. In the alcove behind the falls, the rock sloped backwards, kind of like a small cave. Mossy boulders were everywhere, and it would probably be best if they got out of the water, for even he was freezing cold.</p><p>Only after Inuyasha scrambled onto the flattest, least jagged boulder he could find, did he become acutely aware how he was holding his fully naked female friend flush against his own body. It was a bit difficult to stand on the rough rock, even for him, so he had one arm around her waist in a tight grip. Fortunately she was quiet, except for her shaky breathing.</p><p>"Inuyasha," Kagome gasped, her head still reeling a bit as she tried to calm down. "What the fuck was that all about? I'm completely naked! Are you crazy? Have you lost your damn mind?!"</p><p>"Crazy, maybe," Inuyasha chuckled in her ear. He figured they could talk quietly, for the roar of the waterfall would mask their voices quite well, as the three men were all fully human. "You were about to get a few surprise visitors from the Band of Seven." Immediately he felt her tense up in his arms. "The feminine one wanted to come soak in the hot springs. So I had to race back and get here first to grab you and get you to safety."</p><p>"How many of them were there?" Kagome whispered. She remembered everything Inu no Taisho had said about them. They were a ragtag bunch of burglers, kidnappers, murderers, rapists, and thieves. They terrified her.</p><p>"Three. Unless there were some others trailing way far behind," Inuyasha spoke in her ear directly. It tickled and made her shiver even though she was already shivering from the cold dunk in the waterfall.</p><p>"And this was the only course you could take to rescue me?" Kagome asked wryly. She was still blushing like mad and thanked the gods that they were positioned to where he couldn't get a good look at her. Her bare chest was heaving as she tried to regain composure, which was proving somewhat difficult. With all of the chilly, misty air clinging to her skin, it was quite clear how cold she felt. In an attempt to cover herself a bit, she reached up to pull her wet hair forward, letting it drape down to cover both of her breasts.</p><p>Inuyasha laughed quietly, his breath hitting her neck, which made goosebumps rise up all over her entire body. She closed her eyes and groaned, for he had no idea what he was doing to her right now. The mortification of the whole scenario was enough of a mood killer for her to not feel entirely aroused over their current position. With her hair now pulled forward, her naked back was flush against his bare chest. She tried not to think about it too much."Yeah, pretty much. There was literally no time to wait on you to get dressed, and I didn't think you would want to be naked and out there with <em>them</em>,<em>" </em>he told her.</p><p>"Not especially," Kagome grimaced. She was having a hard time standing on the rock, for although it had a lot of moss, she could still feel the jagged bits and edges. The moss just made it slippery, and she felt like she was sliding through his slightly loosened grip. Her feet were starting to ache, and she decided to reposition herself, only to immediately slip.</p><p>Inuyasha felt her slide but his reflexes were extremely fast, so he tightened his arm around her midsection before she could actually fall. "Careful before you end up getting hurt." Once she was on her feet, he adjusted his grip to lower around her waist, since he was a bit paranoid as he had come close to accidentally groping her when she slipped just now.</p><p>"I'm trying," Kagome whispered. Her feet were probably going to be bleeding by the time they got out of here, but at least she could use her healing powers on them later if need be.</p><p>There was just enough of a gap between the rocks and the water flowing down, for Inuyasha to lean over and peek out and see some of the hot springs. Unfortunately, he could still see the feminine man lounging in one of the pools. Behind him, there was another man, and he could tell they were chatting with each other. "I see two of them, and they're sitting there talking," he updated her.</p><p>"About what? Can you hear anything with those super doggie ears?" Kagome asked, glancing up over her shoulder at him</p><p>Inuyasha just shook his head. "Nope. Not with this waterfall crashing down right in front of me. Way overpowers the sound of anything going on out there past it."</p><p>"Oh. Makes sense," she frowned.</p><p>"Doubt they noticed anything though, just going by their body language. They looked way too relaxed to be on guard or looking out for anybody," he muttered to her. While that was a good thing, he also wished they would just get to bathing and be on their way. He knew that standing here like this was extremely uncomfortable for Kagome, in more ways than one.</p><p>"I'm so cold," Kagome whined after quite some time had passed. She still had a ton of goosebumps, as the mist from the waterfall kept her front chilly and damp. Although she could feel the heat radiating from his body from behind, it just wasn't enough to warm her up.</p><p>Inuyasha groaned as he shifted in place. The rough boulder was hurting his feet as well, and his back was aching a bit from being bent over as he leaned back against the rough rock. He had just checked to see if the damn bandits were still there a few minutes ago, and immediately regretted it. Very unfortunately, he had a clear view of the crossdressing bandit lounging, now positioned up higher on the rock, with legs spread wide as he sat there pleasuring himself.</p><p>It was extremely cramped standing there behind the waterfall, and he didn't want to bump Kagome off of the boulder, but he had to readjust. So he put both hands on her waist to prevent her from falling, while he very carefully adjusted his stance. The rocks were so rough and he had already drawn his own blood on them.</p><p>"I would really love to be able to put some damn clothes on," Kagome grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to try and shield herself a bit from the mist. "I might have to jump in the hot springs again to thaw out. After they leave, obviously."</p><p>"I wish they would just go already," Inuyasha sighed. He was getting anxious having to hide behind the waterfall, and he knew that Kagome was getting very frustrated with everything herself. Surely they would move on soon, right? He waited another several long minutes before leaning to peer out again. This time, he didn't see anybody, but that didn't mean they had left just yet.</p><p>"So. Looks like the pool is empty now, the one they were soaking in. I don't think they had any idea that we were here, but you never know. Hopefully they didn't find out clothes and belongings. I'm going to go sneak out of here and check out the area first to make sure that they definitely did leave and that it's not just a trap. You stay right here. Whatever happens, you stay hidden behind this waterfall until I come back to get you and bring you out. Don't even try to peek, or come out after me, no matter what," Inuyasha said firmly. "Promise?"</p><p>Kagome found herself suddenly staring into two burning golden eyes, mere inches from her face, when Inuyasha put a finger under her chin and turned her to face him. His gaze was quite intent and made her feel flustered. "Kagome. Do you promise?" he repeated again, making her feel a bit weak, for they were so close she could feel his breath on her face.</p><p>"Yes, I promise," Kagome replied quietly. In return she got a small fleeting smile, before Inuyasha slipped out from between the rock wall and her, helping her lean back against it, before he dove into the deep pool. She watched as he swam to the entrance of the alcove, cautiously peeking out and studying the surroundings before disappearing from her sight.</p><p>Inuyasha swam slowly, ears perked as he honed in on every sound the forest was making. There were no human voices, but if it was a trap, they would be silent on purpose. Sticking close to the side with the sheer edge, he scanned the other side that was more open, looking for any sign of human life. There wasn't any, thankfully. Although scent didn't last in water, he could pick up the traces of where they had walked along the rocks and the bank on the other side of the stream. They had entered from various points, a little farther south, but then they departed on two main trails.</p><p>Fortunately, the three members of the Band of Seven hadn't noticed their clothes, not even the bright red fire rat top, which had been draped out wide across a large flat boulder. Due to the path they had walked in on, and from the pools they had chosen to soak in, the red robe had just barely been out of sight. Kagome's clothes and knapsack were still where she left them, along with her bow and arrows. Satisfied that nothing was missing, he silently crept out to follow the trails of the bandits that led away from the hot springs area.</p><p>Inuyasha followed their scents, which headed directly back towards the road, where the three of them seemed to have continued on their merry way. He stayed off to the side, hidden amongst the bushes and trees, racing silently to catch up. Since they had just recently left, within moments he spotted the three figures walking down the road in the distance, seemingly unaware of his presence. Satisfied that they had never noticed or suspected they weren't the only ones at the hot springs, he quickly doubled back to return to Kagome.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kagome was having a bit of a miserable time remaining perched on the rock behind the waterfall. The sharp surface of the boulder was digging into her feet, as the moss growing on it simply wasn't enough of a cushion. Her entire body was tense, as she dug her feet into the boulder, while one hand hung on to a protruding rock, as she didn't trust herself not to outright slip from trying to stand normal. Unfortunately, it was taking him quite some time, with whatever he was doing out there, and she didn't know how much longer she could hold on.</p><p>At long last, Inuyasha ducked back through the waterfall, wading slowly through the water that was up to his shoulders. The sight of a very naked Kagome standing there made him freeze in place, momentarily forgetting how to breathe, for she looked like some sort of goddess. She still had her hair covering most of her breasts, although he could see the outline and underside of them. She was still hanging on to the rock wall for support with one hand, as her spare hand was down at the junction of her thighs to keep herself covered.</p><p>His eyes couldn't help but roam down her body, as she surprisingly didn't seem to freaked out at his presence. All of his hunting and providing had done her well, for she had gone from being sickly thin just a few short weeks ago, to a much more healthy figure now. Her narrow waist flared into perfectly curved hips, drawing his eyes down to roam over the stretch of skin above her hand. Yeah, he was totally drooling right about now. It was very fortunate that he was currently standing in waist deep, ice cold water right now.</p><p>In truth, Kagome had been feeling rather shy and vulnerable when he first appeared back, but as she watched him freeze and gaze at her, she found herself stunned by the look on his face. The expression he was giving her was one of lust and longing, clear as day. It made her feel powerful and wanted, and she decided to do nothing but stand there as confidently as she could, while waiting for him to come help her down. So she simply gazed back at him, watching the way he looked at her for several long moments, before wordlessly making his way over to where she was standing.</p><p>With some difficulty, due to the very limited space there was to stand on, Inuyasha managed to get himself out of the water and stood next to Kagome. He had narrowly missed crashing into her and knocking her over. "Are they gone?" she asked him. Lifting her head, she met his gaze and held it.</p><p>Inuyasha nodded at her. "Yeah. They're far down the road now. I made sure to follow them so I could see them and be absolutely certain. I didn't see anybody coming from the other way either," he told her.</p><p>"Good. I can't take it in here any longer," she told him, teeth chattering. She was so tired of standing on the rock against the wall, and her entire body was aching from bracing herself there for such a length amount of time. Her foot slipped, making her wince and yelp in pain.</p><p>"I know. Sorry it took so long," he told her. Unsure of the best way to hold her to get her out, as he wasn't simply reacting out of panic, he paused before stooping slightly to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her close. "Um, just hang on to me, ok? I know you're freezing, and this is kind of awkward, but we're going to have to take one more dunk in the ice water in order to get out of here."</p><p>"Alright," Kagome groaned painfully. She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, while he held her tightly with one arm, keeping her secure as he leapt down into the icy pool. By the time they emerged into the warmer, more shallow water, she was about to cry from the agony of freezing for so long.</p><p>"Well, that whole thing was awkward, wasn't it?" Inuyasha grinned at her. He had retrieved their clothing and brought them closer to the water's edge, so they could finish getting dressed now that they were out in the open.</p><p>Kagome flushed prettily and whirled away from him, as she hurriedly pulled the kimono on. At least it was midday, and the sun was high and hot as it shone down on them. "You have no idea! You weren't the one standing around naked! In freezing water at that! I'll be lucky if I don't get sick after all of this!"</p><p>"I know, but it couldn't be helped," Inuyasha told her. He glanced at the sky, noting the position of the sun in the sky, to gauge the approximate time. Most likely it was between two and four right about now. "Although, makes me wonder what sort of naked trouble we'll get into the next time we stop and bathe." He laughed and ducked as a stick narrowly missed his head.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hopefully everybody's enjoying it so far. Feel free to review or let me know your thoughts.</em>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. All The Important Questions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>“Inuyasha, are you <em>suuuuure</em> you’re going the right way?” Kagome blinked, as she tried to shield the sun from her eyes with her hand. They were supposed to be heading southeast, but they were heading west right now. Or at least she thought they were heading west. The sun was still a bit too high up for her to get her bearings, but she could have sworn that the sun had risen over the mountains in the far off distance behind directly them. Or maybe it rose up where the range forked to their right. Hmm.</p>
<p>“Probably?” Inuyasha grumbled. “It’s not like there’s GPS and road signage and shit out here, ya know? I had to start heading west after we came across that gorge, remember? I didn’t think the detour would be this far out of the way.”</p>
<p>“So we are going the wrong way,” Kagome confirmed. She sighed and dropped her head on her arm which was resting on his shoulder, as he jogged down a sloped mountain trail. Small rocks tumbled over the edge as he kicked them up as he ran.</p>
<p>“Keh,” Inuyasha grumbled. “Freaking backseat driver.”</p>
<p>“Somebody needs to keep track of where we’re going. So bite me,” Kagome rolled her eyes. Only to widen them a second later, when Inuyasha grabbed her hand and bit her. He <em>bit</em> her. “What the?” she exclaimed, pulling her hand back and rubbing the spot he nipped. It had only been a playful bite, but still a bite.</p>
<p>Inuyasha turned his head back and gave her a sly smirk. “Careful what you ask for.”</p>
<p>“You are <em>such</em> a dog,” she teased, flicking an ear lightly with her finger, just to watch it flick away erratically.</p>
<p>“Bitch,” Inuyasha teased her back. “Now shut up and let me drive, or you’ll get the doghouse tonight!” She just laughed and hugged his neck. Their playful spats and banter were pretty fun and a good source of amusement. Half the time they said stupid shit to each other just for the hell of it. If anything, it just made the long stretches of travel more bearable.</p>
<p>She observed the scenery quietly as Inuyasha ran, until it got dark, and they were forced to stop for the night to rest up. “You went waaaaay far out of the way. Just thought you’d like to know.” She was unable to resist informing him. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes dramatically at her in response.</p>
<p>The next day they continued on, however they found themselves heading northwest, which was exactly opposite of their intended direction. Even Inuyasha had to admit it was extremely frustrating, but eventually he found a section of the gorge that seemed passable, although a bit tricky. Kagome clung tightly to him, as he used both arms and legs to aid him as he leapt down. The cliff face was extremely steep, and the footing was narrow. One misstep and they were likely to go falling.</p>
<p>Kagome sighed with relief when they made it to the top on the other side, for it had been more than a little nerve-racking, every time he knocked boulders loose in his attempt to ascend out of there. “Look, lots of storm clouds,” she pointed to the far off distance. It had been nice and pretty out that morning, but as it passed noon, it became increasingly overcast and more chilly. Huge clouds blanketed the sky, spreading across the entirety of the vast horizon.</p>
<p>“Right where we need to go, too. Of course,” Inuyasha replied. It was rainy season, but hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad. Grabbing her thighs, he bounced her a bit to get her in better position, and then took off at full speed.</p>
<p>The storm was heading their way, apparently, and it wasn’t just a light drizzle. Thunderclouds were rolling in fast, and fat water droplets smacked them as they raced across the wide open fields. Of course they had to encounter at thunderstorm when there was no decent cover or shelter anywhere close. The lightning was making Inuyasha’s senses tingle, so he urgently scanned the horizon for some kind of shelter. No forests as far as he could see, and all that was out here aside from the flatness were some barren looking mountains. Climbing one would be very unwise in this weather, but perhaps he could find some sort of shelter along one.</p>
<p>About an hour or two later, a thoroughly drenched Inuyasha and Kagome found an overhang that had been created by massive fallen boulders that had broken off of the mountain. There was a slab that had to be nearly twenty feet long and three feet thick, that created a natural lean-to, as it had fallen on top of another huge rock. It wasn’t the best shelter, but at least it was something.</p>
<p>“Too bad there’s no dry wood under here by chance. I guess we can’t be that lucky,” Kagome sighed. Underneath the rock overhang it was pretty barren, except for some weeds and loose rock. She shivered and rubbed her arms as she kicked some of the rocks out into the rain.</p>
<p>“Lucky enough. At least the clothes inside the knapsack are dry. Here, catch.” Inuyasha told her, as he balled up her dark blue kimono and tossed it her direction. His fire rat robe and hakama were thoroughly soaked as well, but his jeans and t-shirt were fine. Thanks to Kagome’s earlier suggestion to slip the backpack between their bodies to sandwich it from the rain.</p>
<p>“Thank you. Tell me when you’re decent,” she told him. Her wet clothing couldn’t come off fast enough, and she was shivering in the damp, humid air. With their backs turned to each other, she waited patiently for him to tell her she could turn around. And waited some more. “Earth to Inuyasha? I told you to tell me when you were dressed.”</p>
<p>“No, you said to tell you when I was decent,” Inuyasha snickered at her. “When the hell am I ever decent?”</p>
<p>Kagome laughed at that and rolled her eyes. “You are such an idiot, you know that?” </p>
<p>“Rude bitch,” he teased her. He grabbed his wet clothes and search for a large enough boulder to lay them out on, while Kagome did the same with hers. That taken care of, he headed to the middle of the sheltered area and started to smooth it out with his foot, kicking the rocks away to make it easier to sit or lay on. They had the choice of sitting on the ground, on the dust and dirt, or on the boulders, none of which were flat and smooth enough to be remotely comfortable.</p>
<p>Taking her seat next to Inuyasha, she glanced over at her hanyou companion, who had his arms resting on his knees, as he stared out into the rain. He seemed lost in thought, so she quietly turned to look out the opening of their shelter.</p>
<p>“Probably going to be here all day,” Inuyasha broke the silence. So much rain had fallen that it was pretty muddy out there. It looked like the area they were sitting on was a bit higher in elevation, so they shouldn’t have to worry about water flowing in. Most likely the rainstorms over the years or centuries had eroded the ground a bit where the drops didn’t hit directly, so the exposed land just sloped away.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Probably going to end up sleeping here too. It’s so ugly out. Even if it stops I doubt you would want to run in the mud,” Kagome agreed. She frowned and dropped her chin onto her crossed arms. There had to be <em>something</em> they could do…”So…Inuyasha. Do you want to talk?”</p>
<p>“Talk? About what?” Inuyasha turned his head to glance her way. He had just been thinking about how boring it would be if they spent the entire day sitting here and staring at the rain. </p>
<p>Kagome shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything, really. We can just ask each other random things. Maybe it’s a dumb idea though…” her voice trailed off. “It’s just, we weren’t friends for so long, and then all this happened. While we get along really well now, I still always think how there’s so much about you I don’t know. And vice versa.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha watched her with interest as she spoke. Things had absolutely changed from falling through that well, which was simultaneously one of the best and one of the worst things that had happened to him lately. “It’s not dumb at all. You’re right though, about there being so much we don’t know. Just have to promise to be truthful. So, uh, are we banning any certain topics of types of questions?”</p>
<p>“Why? Exactly what kind of questions did you have in mind? Pervert!” Kagome teased him. Since she was sitting next to him, she rammed him with her shoulder to knock him to the side a bit.</p>
<p>“Hey, you’re the pervert if your mind instantly went to the gutter,” Inuyasha retorted, with a gentle shove of his own.</p>
<p>“Sometimes it does,” Kagome told him coyly. If only he knew…She flashed him a grin before straightening up. ”But anyways, you haven’t said much about your father, after spending about a week with him here in the past. I can’t tell if it’s been bothering you at all, or if you just felt happy to have that opportunity.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha’s expression became rather somber at that. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer, so he sat there for a few long moments before trying to speak. “I’m happy and thankful to have gotten the chance to meet him again, even if it was a result of cheating the natural timeline. But at the same time it kills me, because it’s just hard, you know? I grew up knowing I would never see him again, and I dealt with it. Seeing him alive after all this time, I don’t know. It’s like it’s making it harder for me to deal with something I thought I had come to terms with. He’s different now, than when I remember him, of course. I guess a good five hundred years of life experience changes you a bit.” </p>
<p>He couldn’t help but let out a short laugh at that. Despite the chuckle, Kagome was easily able to detect the sadness and pain in his voice, that he was trying to mask. “It’s hard, I know,” she told him quietly. “Maybe I shouldn’t have asked, but I figured it would be better to get whatever you’ve been thinking and feeling off your chest. Usually it helps you feel better, talking about things. I’m sorry for prying.”</p>
<p>“No, you’re fine,” Inuyasha told her. He lifted an arm to allow her to get close, when she leaned in to wrap her arms around his torso in a hug. Totally unsure of what to do with said arm, he simply draped it behind her back and rested his hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>Kagome was quiet for a moment, as they snuggled together like that, neither one seeming to want to move. “So, I know you were young when he passed away. Do you have any good memories of him from your childhood?” she asked softly.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Inuyasha replied. The faintest of smiles tugged at the corners of his mouth. “When I was little, he would give me the best piggy back rides. Demon style of course. It was like we were flying. He loved to run with me deep into the woods and mountains, to track down bears and elk so I could see the wild animals. We would camp out under the stars and listen for the wolves and coyotes in the distance.”</p>
<p>“So being here in Feudal Japan must bring back a lot of those memories,” Kagome murmured.</p>
<p>Inuyasha nodded. “Yeah…” He was silent for a few long moments, just thinking. “What about you? I know you lost your father to when you were younger. I hope you have good memories with him as well?”</p>
<p>Kagome grinned widely. “Yeah, I have a bunch. Every winter, at the first major snowfall, he would take me and Souta out to a park near our house, so we could go sledding down the huge hill there. We always had an epic snowball fight, and build snowmen together. Dad always lost, but I think that was on purpose. One year he took us to Walt Disney World and we got to go to the beach and see the ocean. We built sandcastles too. I miss him so much.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha’s sensitive nose picked up the faintest trace of tears, so he tightened his arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“It’s ok,” she mumbled. Letting go of his waist for a second, she quickly dried her eyes. “Let’s talk about less sad topics. This is supposed to a fun, getting to know each other kind of afternoon.”</p>
<p>“Agreed. So what modern day food are you just dying to eat as soon as possible once we make it back to our time? Or what do you miss the most? I would do just about anything for some instant ramen right about now. I think I need a beer, or three, after this is all over,” Inuyasha declared.</p>
<p>Kagome laughed at that. “I’m not really a drinker, but I might have to join you for a beer as well. However, I would totally just kill for a nice big jar of peanut butter. As soon as we get back to the modern world, I’m getting a jar and digging in. No shame. And ice cream. Plus I’m really craving some onigiri from 7-Eleven as well. I’m eating all of my favorite foods when we get back. Hopefully you won’t think I’m too much of a pig.”</p>
<p>“Can’t make any promises,” Inuyasha grinned at her. She pinched his side, making him jolt a bit in place. “Pain in the ass.”</p>
<p>“No, more like pain in the side,” Kagome grinned, as she pinched him again. With a sigh, she loosened her arms around him but made no move to sit more upright and not keep leaning against him. He was so nice and warm, chasing away the chill she had gotten from racing through the pouring rain earlier. Plus, she just really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to snuggle with him. “If you get tired of me hanging onto you like this, just let me know and I’ll stop.”</p>
<p>“No, it’s fine,” Inuyasha told her quickly. He bit his lip and glanced down at the top of her head. His arm was still draped around her and he had no interest in removing it. “I…um, I like this.”</p>
<p>With her face still pressed against the side of his chest, Kagome grinned widely. She almost hadn’t caught that last part, but she was quite certain of what he had said. “You like being hugged?”</p>
<p>“….yeah…” Inuyasha told her. He was kind of embarrassed to admit it, but what the hell. If he lied or refused to answer, she would probably just have pulled away, and he wasn’t wanting to risk that happening. Who knew when they would get the chance to sit like this again? “Favorite color? I like red.” The subject just needed to be changed quickly.</p>
<p>“I like bright blue, like the ocean in the Caribbean,” Kagome replied. </p>
<p>“Blue is great too, but I prefer darker shades of it,” Inuyasha commented, as a particular shade of sapphire came to mind. “Where do you think your powers come from? You’re not Japanese, so not a true miko like the ones here, despite living at a shrine and having similar powers to one.”</p>
<p>Kagome shrugged at that. “I have no idea, since I’m kind of a mutt myself. There are plenty of other cultures and ethnicities have people who possess powers as well. I do know I’m part Eastern European, British, and Native American. I was actually thinking about that the other day, as I started recalling my great aunt wanting to start teaching me the ways of her people, back when I was quite a bit younger. I wish I could remember more of that summer. I kind of vaguely remember her saying that I had some sort of power, but I was just a kid, and didn’t take any of that seriously. Then we moved and she passed away a couple of years ago. So I don’t know for sure if my powers come from her side of the family or if the genes come from another branch. Guess I’ll just have to figure it all out on my own since nobody has been born yet. Anyways. What made you want to study biology in college?”</p>
<p>Inuyasha let out a short laugh. “I just like animals more than I like people, and would rather get job studying them or working with them. They’re much easier to deal with and they’re easier to get along with, than people are. Most of them, that is.”</p>
<p>“So you just don’t like people. I never would have guessed,” Kagome teased him.</p>
<p>“Eh, there’s a very short list of ones I like,” Inuyasha replied, daring to give her the slightest sidelong glance without turning his head at all. He couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous, just because he still wasn’t quite sure exactly where she stood on the personal relations between the two of them. “Why haven’t you had a boyfriend, as long as I’ve known you? I mean, that Hobo kid is definitely very interested. I mean, come on. He gave you tea cups for your birthday, for crying out loud.”</p>
<p>“Measuring cups,” Kagome laughed, shaking her head at the memory of the night they disappeared. “And I know he’s very interested. Too bad for him that I’ve had my eye on somebody else for a while.” She paused, giving him a sneak peek out of the corner of her eye, but his gaze was focused on the far off horizon. So much for trying to subtly flirt with him, and see if he actually caught the hint this time. She sighed and straightened up, for leaning over like that had put a crick in her back. With her arms raised up and back, she tried to stretch it out, which did bring Inuyasha’s attention back to her.</p>
<p>“Really though, do you think I would be into a guy like him? He’s nice and sweet, sure, but somebody who wants to be a domestic little housewife would be his ideal match, I think. That’s not something I could ever be content with. He’s way too bland for my tastes anyway. I need somebody that I feel a spark for. Somebody more exciting,” Kagome informed him.</p>
<p>Inuyasha snorted a laugh at that. “Yeah, no shit. I’m not exactly sure what your tastes are, but you clearly need a man that can handle your hot temper.”</p>
<p>Kagome’s mouth dropped open and she shoved his shoulder indignantly. “I do not have a hot temper!”</p>
<p>“Hah. Sometimes you do. You’ve got a bit of fire in you,” Inuyasha grinned at her. “Proving it right now, by the way. Shoving me for no reason just a second ago.”</p>
<p>“That was barely a shove,” Kagome scoffed at him. “But sure. I can have a bit of a hot temper, but so do you. The two of us are kind of like fire and, uh, fire. Anyways. Glad we’ve got that established. Name which famous person you would most like to have sex with.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha shot her a look. “What the hell kind of question is that?”</p>
<p>Kagome just shrugged innocently. “Hey, we agreed that anything goes, right? And we agreed that we have to answer each other honestly. So, spill it. The thought just randomly popped into my head and I’m just really curious. I mean, if Jason Momoa decided to show up on my doorstep offering, I’d have an impossible time saying no!”</p>
<p>“You and every other female on this planet,” Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Kagome grinned and raised her hands. “He’s hot. Anyways, I’m still waiting on an answer here…”</p>
<p>“Nobody,” Inuyasha grumbled at her.</p>
<p>Kagome tilted her head at him and eyed him curiously. “Seriously? So you’re telling me that there’s nobody on this planet you would want to have sex with? At all?”</p>
<p>“I didn’t say that,” Inuyasha smirked at her. “Of course there is. However, you specified famous person. I’m just not into celebrities like that, since what you see is probably fake anyway, so that was the answer to your very specific question. Moving on now.” He was somewhat nervous now, and wanted to change the topic before she kept pressing it, before he was forced to lie.</p>
<p>“Ok, moving on,” Kagome grinned at him. She was a little disappointed to not actually get an answer to her question, but then again she did gain some new knowledge, so she was ultimately satisfied. At least he didn’t name some trashy celebrity that she hated.</p>
<p>Inuyasha sighed and dropped down to lay flat on his back. He stared up at the slab above them for a moment before speaking. “Are you happy here? Living in Japan, I mean. Not just right now while we’re stuck in the past, but if we ever make it back to our time, do you think you’ll always want to stay here? Or would you ever move back to the states one day if given the chance?”</p>
<p>Following his lead to lay down, Kagome turned and got onto her side, so she could face him while they chatted. It was hard to read his face, which was a bit stoic, as he merely stared holes into the rock above them. “I am happy. I have friends, and family here. So I plan to live there for a while, but I wouldn’t say with certainty that I will always remain in Japan. You never know what the future holds. My heart still belongs to where I grew up, because I have such fond memories. So yes, I think that one day I would like to return. Even if not to Colorado, I would go anywhere in that general region. What about you? Are you going to stay in Tokyo or do you intend to leave for the States right away?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know what I’ll end up doing in the long run. I mean, I’m not going to hightail it to the airport when we make it back, obviously, but yeah, one day I think I want to go back. I don’t know. Most of the time I just feel totally lost and don’t have the slightest idea where I belong. No family anywhere,” he mumbled.</p>
<p>Kagome frowned at the hint of sadness in his voice. Hesitantly, she scooted closer and dared to lay her head down on his arm. Thankfully he didn’t try to shrug her away. She wanted to hug him, since he had admitted to liking being hugged earlier, but decided against it just because of how they were laying. “Well, I hope you do stay for a while. Even if you don’t have any blood relatives you know of to be around, you do have friends who would miss you if you left, and I’m sure you would miss them in return. Mark is your best buddy and you guys are always hanging out doing guy things or whatever. Even Sonya would miss you. My family seemed to like you as well. So you’re not truly alone there, unless you really don’t like any of them and just pretend that you enjoy their company.” </p>
<p>She paused and couldn’t stop a sly grin from forming on her face. “What about <em>me</em>, though? Did I make the very short list, that you mentioned earlier, of people you actually like?” Struck with sudden boldness, she decided it was worth the risk and snaked her arm across his midsection, hugging him as tight as she could. </p>
<p>Instead of receiving an answer, Kagome found herself suddenly rolled onto her back, with Inuyasha half crouching over her, as he simply looked at her. He was partially leaning on her, trapping her beneath him. The suddenness of them switching positions like that had her sucking in her breath, as she gazed up at him wide-eyed. Silver hair draped over his shoulder, as he gave her a rather intense stare.</p>
<p>“What do you fucking think?” Inuyasha asked wryly, gazing down at Kagome’s surprised face. He just couldn’t take it anymore, all of the hugging, and then the cuddling she had initiated mere seconds ago. She was just way too pretty, laying there with her hair strewn under her head, big blue eyes staring at him widely. Without waiting for her to answer, he lowed his head a bit, getting as close to her face as he currently dared.</p>
<p>All of the teasing and the tension between them had gone on long enough. He had decided it was now or never, and he couldn’t deal with it being never. Flattening his ears, he finally worked up the nerve to actually speak after staring at her for several long seconds, that felt like an eternity. “Have you ever thought about kissing a friend?”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Official</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kagome just stared up at Inuyasha, her mind temporarily going haywire, as she had to reprocess the question he just asked her. One minute they had been resting together, getting all cuddly and learning each other's secrets, and now she was on her back, while he crouched over her, asking if she had ever had thoughts about kissing a friend. Did that mean that he actually liked her, in the same way she liked him?</p>
<p>The look on his face made it impossible for her not to grin slowly. As he just paused there, staring at her, his ears twitched cutely. Uncertainty was flashing across his face, making her feel bad about not immediately reacting or responding.</p>
<p>Instead of answering, Kagome just coyly batted her eyes a couple of times at him. "Maybe."</p>
<p>"Who?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. He was glad that she hadn't said no, but she also hadn't said yes either.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kagome was debating whether she should admit outright who it was, just in case it was actually one-sided. She didn't really think they were though, not with the way he had been staring at her after their latest waterfall incident. Plus she was rather certain she caught him staring at her out of the corner of her eye whenever he thought she wasn't paying attention. What if she was wrong though, and he didn't like her quite that much, and she just made a fool of herself? The risk was worth the reward though, right?</p>
<p>"Hmm, he's tall and strong, more so than any human, since he's half demon. He has even longer hair than I do, but it's silver. And really nice gold eyes. Plus his ears are the cutest. I've imagined what it's like to kiss him, and if he feels the same way about me, I wish he would just freaking do it already," she told her, a bit shyly.</p>
<p>His face was so close to hers as it was, that she had decided to just bite the bullet and go for it. She was tired of the angst of wondering how he really felt. The butterflies in her stomach were going wild right about now.</p>
<p>She grinned as Inuyasha gave her a nervous look and started to lower his head all the way, before pressing his lips to hers gently. It was a bit of an uncertain kiss, his lips just lingering on hers, while he gauged her reaction. She was nervous, he was nervous, but that rapidly faded away.</p>
<p>Goosebumps covered Kagome's body as she slowly kissed him back, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him closer. She opened her mouth, running the tip of her tongue along the edge of his lip, moaning slightly when he took that as an invitation to kiss her more deeply, slipping his tongue forward into her mouth. For a first kiss, it was no little kiss, as it quickly became quite heated.</p>
<p>All he wanted was to taste her, and get lost in the moment. Quiet growls escaped his throat as he felt her fingernails run along the back of his neck and through his hair. He hadn't been sure if she was going to be willing to let him kiss her initially when he asked, but he had been willing to take the chance, and it had more than paid off. When Kagome paused to catch her breath, he grinned and trailed his lips down the side of her neck, licking her lightly before planting a row of kisses on her skin. She smelled so good, like wildflowers.</p>
<p>Beneath him, Kagome gasped a bit as he lightly sucked the thin skin of her throat. She was on cloud nine right about now. For so long, she had run so many different scenarios in her head of their first kiss, but this was a thousand times better than she had ever expected it to be. With all of his brashness and brute strength, he was rather surprisingly gentle when it came to kissing. He kissed her a moment longer before pulling away so he could lean on his elbow and look at her.</p>
<p>"That was amazing," she told him shyly, feeling her face flush a bit. "But, was that a one time thing? Or were you wanting to make things more official between us?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha frowned and raised a brow at her, trying to read her face. "Do you <em>want</em> this to just be a one time thing?"</p>
<p>Kagome shook her head and grinned shyly at him. "No. Not at all."</p>
<p>"Good," Inuyasha couldn't help but grin back at her now. "Because neither do I. By more official, I'm assuming you mean you want to be my girlfriend? This isn't exactly the ideal world to date in, but we can do romantic things like, uh, makeout under rocks in the rain and go on nice long walks across all of Feudal Japan aimlessly. Maybe kill a few youkai while we're at it and save the world from the bad guy before he kills us all."</p>
<p>"While busy hunting down these jewel shards so that we can go back home and go out on a nice normal date. That sounds so romantic. I'm in," Kagome laughed and reached over to tug on the thick bunch of hair that hung down next to his face, to try and pull him closer. "For now, let's just work on that makeout under a rock part. Because being your girlfriend is exactly what I want to be."</p>
<p>Inuyasha groaned when Kagome pulled him closer and nibbled his lip. Eagerly he opened his mouth for her, letting her take the lead for a little bit.</p>
<p>Eventually they paused to take a break and just lay there, gazing at each other. Kagome was giddy with happiness at the sudden transformation their friendship had taken. However, something was still nagging at the back of her mind. "Hey," she spoke, raising her head a bit with her hand propped under it.</p>
<p>"Yeah?" Inuyasha asked her, his ears easily picking up the more serious tone of her voice. It made him somewhat nervous, since things had been going more than a little well for the past half hour or so.</p>
<p>Kagome sighed and gazed at him, studying his face, which was looking a tiny but worried. "I really hate to bring this up right now, but it's been something that's bugged me now and then, even lately although we've been getting along so well ever since we have been here. I just really need to know so I can get closure on it. Why were you always so mean to me before? Like always so automatically abrupt and dismissive. Anytime the four of us hung out, you acted like I was the biggest nuisance you ever had to deal with. What did I do to you to ever deserve that in the first place? Why did you hate me so much?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha couldn't help but groan at that as he covered his face with his hand. Yeah, it was a mood-killer, but he couldn't fault her for asking. In all truth, he was well aware of the fact that he had always been a bit of a dick to her, so he owed it to her to get things straight. "I never hated you."</p>
<p>"What?" Kagome tilted her head at his muffled voice.</p>
<p>With a sigh, Inuyasha dropped his hand and gazed at her. "I said I never hated you."</p>
<p>"Then why did you act like you did?" she asked again, blinking in disbelief.</p>
<p>Inuyasha closed his eyes and groaned internally. "I…I don't know. I was just stupid, I guess…Just not in my nature to get close to anybody, really. Especially since those closest to me both died. So I thought it would be better to not get close to anybody else."</p>
<p>Kagome gave him a suspicious look. "I call bullshit on that, because you were always obviously close to Mark. And even Sonya, to a lesser extent. It was always the four of us, but I was the only one you would outright shun and be mean to. Then we come here, and I almost die, but after that we're suddenly friends. I don't understand it."</p>
<p>"That's because it was different with you. I don't mean close as in just merely friends. I mean close as in romantically close. Obviously I never thought about either one of them like that," Inuyasha grumbled.</p>
<p>"Well, that's news to me," Kagome teased him, before getting serious again. "But wait…from what you're saying, you were mean to me because you were afraid of getting romantically close to me. So in other words, you're telling me that you actually liked me in a romantic sense? For how long?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha dared to glance at her face. "Since the day I met you."</p>
<p>Kagome's mouth dropped open a bit in shock. "Seriously? You've liked me for that long? What?! Why the hell didn't you say anything sooner? Inuyasha! You moron!" she couldn't help herself from punching his upper arm lightly.</p>
<p>"Because," he groaned at her. "I didn't want to have to risk dealing with you rejecting me, and then getting ridiculed by our friends for making a massive fool out of myself. The pressure of that freaked me out. I guess it just was safer to keep making myself try to push you away. But you're a damn stubborn wench." He grinned at her. "I'm glad for that, though."</p>
<p>"I suppose I am," Kagome laughed a bit and covered her face with a hand, letting out a painful groan. "But you really are an idiot, you know that? I've had this huge crush on you too, as long as I've known you. We could have been like this with each other from day one, if we had made our feelings known. Instead we had to act like dumbasses and drag that on for years."</p>
<p>Inuyasha sighed. "I suppose so. Although I'm not the same person I was then, so maybe it's for the better. I'd like to think I'm not as stupidly immature as I was a few years ago."</p>
<p>"Oh, I don't know about that," Kagome teased him. "But did you really think that you didn't stand a chance at all?"</p>
<p>"I guess," Inuyasha shrugged at her. "Look at you, and look at me. I'm no Jason Momoa here, who I now know you've got the hots for. You're way out of my league, so I just had myself convinced I didn't stand a chance in hell. In addition to that, I just had a lot going on personally and I hated myself for everything, and I just took it out on you. I know it was wrong and that I was an asshole to you for no reason and I regret it. I'm sorry. I really am sorry."</p>
<p>That made Kagome smile hugely, for she knew he wasn't one to sincerely apologize for anything. "I forgive you," she said simply. "You clearly had it all wrong in your head, because I find you way sexier than Jason Momoa. I'm just glad we got that cleared up. And from now on, if there are things bothering you personally, please just open up to me instead of taking your frustrations out on me." She paused, another thought coming to mind. "What happens if we don't work out here? If we're really going to try being more than just friends, I'm just wondering what may happen."</p>
<p>Inuyasha frowned and gazed back at her. "I mean, if we don't work out, then I suppose I'll just be wandering throughout Feudal Japan with my ex trying to help get her home to our time safe and sound." He let out a painful sigh. "Look, I won't just abandon you if we get into a relationship with each other and decide it doesn't work out for us for whatever reason. Even if it's awkward and painful. I would make sure to be there to watch out for you until we are home. That being said, let's not try to make it sound like a relationship between us is going to be doomed from the start, ok?"</p>
<p>"I'm not trying to make it sound that way," Kagome reassured and smiled at him. "I'm so happy and excited at the chance to give us a chance at romance and I hope it works out wonderfully."</p>
<p>"Me too. So, moving on…" Inuyasha made a face at her at her.</p>
<p>With a grin right, Kagome scooted closer to him once again and leaned in to kiss his lips. She was beyond thrilled at the recent progression between the two of them. "Let's forget about talking and make up for all the years of kissing we missed out on."</p>
<p>Inuyasha couldn't help but grin back at her. "Great idea. Shut up and let's make out."</p>
<p>The rain didn't let up until after the sun went down, so the newly official couple had spent their time lounging around, making out the majority of the time. Since the robe of the fire rat had dried off quickly, Inuyasha grabbed it for them to use as a blanket for the night. The rain and lack of sun had made the day oddly cool. "We should be just fine without a fire," he told her, watching as she moved to lay down right in front of him.</p>
<p>"I think so. You're pretty hot in more ways than one," she informed him. "We can cuddle close at night now." Inuyasha voiced his agreement as he draped an arm around her to keep her close. She had backed up to him into a spooning position. It was almost surreal to him, what had happened the past few hours. At least it wasn't a dream though, for she was still there in his arms when he woke up the next morning.</p>
<p>"I think it's going to be a nice clear day," Kagome commented the next morning. With all the rain from the day before, it was very humid and muggy out, and also hot. It was probably almost summer now. With the changing of the seasons, she had been putting together a pair of shorts, as it was getting far too uncomfortable having jeans on. With her lack of skills in the sewing department, they looked pretty bad, but got the job done.</p>
<p>Inuyasha was sitting on the ground, inspecting the food they had been carrying to make sure it hadn't spoiled on them yet. When she came over and asked him just how terrible he thought her clothing was, he glanced up with a smirk. "Don't quit your day job, is all I've got to say."</p>
<p>His eyes travelled further down, along her shapely thighs and calves, only to glance back up with a confused look. "Where the hell did you get some sort of razor at to shave with? Shouldn't your legs resemble a small forest, as long as we've been here?"</p>
<p>"I didn't," Kagome laughed at him, as she grabbed the robe they had been sleeping under to shake it off, as had yet to change out of his modern clothing. It was a little sandy but not too bad. "It's called laser hair removal. When I got a job at a spa a couple of years ago, I had it done, since I was able to get an employee discount. I guess it's the Italian in me, that made me a little too hairy, in various areas. Now I don't have to worry about that any more," she grinned, stepping close and lifting a leg so it was closer to his face. "See, completely smooth."</p>
<p>Inuyasha smirked and eyed her legs once again as she knelt near him. "So what exactly do you mean, by various areas?" he was unable to resist asking, a cheeky grin forming on his face.</p>
<p>Kagome laughed at him and blushed. "Maybe you'll get to find out for yourself sometime, if I really like you that much. Let's hurry and eat since I'm starving." She glanced out from under their shelter and saw how muddy the ground was still. At least she wouldn't have to step in it, when it was time to move on.</p>
<p>A while later, Inuyasha knelt for her so she could hop onto his back. "Aren't you way too warm in this?" she asked, tugging on the red of his robe that he had once again donned. Between the thick fabric and his body heat, she had stayed plenty warm last night.</p>
<p>"Actually no. It's surprisingly cool, even with the layers. Keeps me both warm and cool, which is really nice. Plus it seems to clean itself," Inuyasha replied. He was starting to like the outfit more and more, despite his initial thoughts on it being a little goofy looking, with the bagginess of it. At least it was his favorite color as well, which helped. Leaping high, he did his best to go from boulder to boulder, trying to avoid the mud as much as possible, he raced towards the rising sun. The scent of the earth was more pungent after the heavy rain, and he found himself breathing deeply, enjoying the pure scent of the untouched world.</p>
<p>Later that night, as they were eating dinner, Inuyasha froze with his half eaten rabbit to his mouth, before dropping it in alarm. "Some kind of youkai is approaching," he hissed, immediately grabbing Tessaiga.</p>
<p>Kagome jumped to her feet in alarm, grabbing her bow and arrows, in case she needed to help as backup. Hopefully she wouldn't shoot Inuyasha on accident. "Where?"</p>
<p>She got her answer before Inuyasha could answer, when two glowing eyes appeared to her right. "Stay back!" Inuyasha ordered, as he pulled Tessaiga from its sheath. He couldn't make out what kind of youkai it was, but it was large, and charging towards them on all fours. Tessaiga pulsed in his hand and the next thing he knew, it had turned into a massive six foot blade. With the youkai charging them, he didn't have much time to be impressed, and promptly swung the sword as it drew near, effectively slicing its head off.</p>
<p>"Wow, that was impressive," Kagome commented, as she stood gaping at her boyfriend and his giant sword. "That big huge blade came out of that little sheath?" She vaguely remembered seeing his sword transform back when she was attacked by his father's true form, however she hadn't actually seen just how it happened. At the time she had been too concerned over being eaten by a giant dog.</p>
<p>Inuyasha turned and smirked at her. "Here I was thinking you were about to tell me that chopping its head off with one swing was impressive, but apparently not."</p>
<p>"Sorry, that was impressive too," Kagome laughed, as his eyes glinted at her. "It's just that I know you're soooo powerful and strong, and I knew you wouldn't have any issue taking the big demon down in one blow. The sword was more of a surprise to me."</p>
<p>"Sure, suck up to me now," Inuyasha teased her, as he turned Tessaiga to sheath it once again. As the tip of the sword neared the opening of its sheath, the sword promptly shrunk down to regular katana size so that it slid in easily.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kagome found herself distracted by a pink and purple glow coming from severed head of the youkai. "Hey, Inuyasha! I see something in there. It might be a jewel shard!" Covering her nose and mouth with one hand, since there was a lot of blood all over the place, she tiptoed through the grass and leaned down to very gingerly pluck the glowing object from the head. "Ugh. I'm not going to like collecting these jewel shards if its always like this." She managed to retrieve it without getting her hands too messy.</p>
<p>Turning to Inuyasha, she saw that he had already resumed eating the rabbit. "You're still hungry after seeing that?" she gaped, full of disbelief.</p>
<p>Inuyasha shrugged at her. "I've seen worse out hunting. Just gotta focus on other things and not think about it. Here, have a bite." He was chowing down with the rabbit in one hand, and held out a freshly cooked squirrel on a stick with his other, for her to take. She took it from him and sat down to eat, much more slowly. "So did you get the shard?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," Kagome replied. It was still in her fist, so she held it up for him to see between her fingers. It glowed softly, pulsing a bit, as she looked at it. "I wonder how far away I can see them glow."</p>
<p>"It's glowing?" Inuyasha asked, before shaking his head. "Must be your special powers then. To me it just looks like a light purple stone."</p>
<p>"Definitely glowing," Kagome grinned. "I'm glad I have that kind of power. Makes me feel like I'm of some use here and not just dead weight. You probably would never have noticed it if I hadn't seen the glow."</p>
<p>Inuyasha frowned and gave her a look. "Don't call yourself dead weight. Of course you're useful."</p>
<p>"I don't always feel like it," Kagome sighed. "It's mostly just going to be you fighting and keeping me out of danger. I feel like you end up doing most of the work when we set up camp too. Mostly I just do laundry and sew and sometimes help cook. I can't even start a fire on my own."</p>
<p>"Oh. I just always make the fire since I'm used to it. I'll show you how if you want to learn," Inuyasha blinked. He had been taking charge so the thought hadn't occurred to him that Kagome might want to contribute more than she was, and it made him feel a little guilty. "All that aside, you have that really nice healing power, which is a damn good thing to have. And you're getting better with the bow too. Just have to keep practicing at it."</p>
<p>"Thanks," Kagome gave him a fleeting smile. Not wanting to lose the jewel shard, she tucked it into the knapsack for safekeeping.</p>
<p>"We should make to Iwaki today," Inuyasha called over his shoulder, as he darted through the trees. The forest was super dense here, and he had to zig zag about, as he literally could not run in a straight line for more than a few feet. Branches and vines were everywhere, and he had to make sure to take care that he didn't get too close to anything that had thorns or would otherwise scratch his girlfriend on his back, as he flew past them.</p>
<p>"Good," Kagome yelped, as she quickly buried her face into the side of Inuyasha's thick silver mane. She was starting to get a little dizzy from his erratic leaping about, as he avoided tree trunks and branches, sometimes a bit too narrowly for her comfort. Eventually he started running a little straighter, indicating that the forest was getting less dense, so she finally lifted her head.</p>
<p>As they ran up the crest of a hill, Inuyasha slowed to a trot. Something in the air just felt wrong, like it was slightly electric. His eyes darted about, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. The wind picked up and his nose immediately crinkled as he detected a foul odor.</p>
<p>"What is it? Are you sensing something? I kind of feel weird," Kagome commented. Gripping Inuyasha's shoulders, she pushed herself up a bit, for he was walking now, in hopes of getting a better vantage point.</p>
<p>"I smell something and can't figure out what it could possibly be. Doesn't seem like it's anything good. And weird, how?" Inuyasha asked.</p>
<p>"I feel wrong. Like the air is corrupted. I don't really know how to explain it," Kagome struggled. She couldn't see anything, so she dropped down to her usual position on his back.</p>
<p>"Well, we are close to the demon slayer's village. Maybe it's some kind of deterrent they have up for youkai?" Inuyasha pondered. Picking up the pace, he jogged along the crest of the hill, until they came around a bend of trees, and found himself coming to a dead stop. "Shit. I'm not so sure about that…"</p>
<p>Inuyasha gagged a bit as a gust of wind blew their direction, for whatever it was, it made his eyes, nose, and throat burn. Beneath them was a large, expansive valley, and there was a dense purple fog hugging the ground. The fog wasn't the only thing he could smell, and his eyes grew wide with horror.</p>
<p>"What is <em>that</em>?" Kagome gasped, as she pointed over his shoulder. It clearly was no natural fog, based on color alone, and she was guessing that it was the source of her discomfort.</p>
<p>"Who knows, but try not to breath it in!" Inuyasha told her quickly, glancing back to give her a sharp look. The wind blowing their way smelled foul. "The whole place also reeks of blood. Like a lot of blood. Human blood."</p>
<p>" Oh shit. You think the demon slayers got attacked?" Kagome gasped. She stared at the purple fog. "Whatever that stuff is, it seems to be demonic. I have an idea," Kagome said slowly. "Maybe I can purify that fog away." She started to release her grip on his waist with her knees.</p>
<p>"Oh <em>hell</em> no. You are not going down in that!" Inuyasha immediately grabbed her thighs to prevent her from sliding down. "Are you crazy?"</p>
<p>"No, and of course I'm not going down in that," Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm going to try and purify it from here. I just can't easily shoot my bow while I'm on your back." As Inuyasha loosened his grip at that, she slid down and readied her bow and arrow. Mentally she went over his instructions on stance, as he stood back and observed.</p>
<p>This time, she felt her power rise up more freely than it had before, as she studied the thick purple fog. Pale pink light began to envelop her arrow, as she judged the distance and aimed her bow higher up towards the sky. With the distance, she was going to have to shoot the arrow as far as possible, in hopes that it would actually make it.</p>
<p>Behind her, Inuyasha watched, a bit fascinated, as his girlfriend focused her power into the arrow. He was proud that she had learned the stance he had showed her, and when she released the arrow, it arced high in the air and landed towards the far right corner of the fog. Pink light streaked behind the arrow, and when it hit the fog, he was even more proud when there was a loud crackle, and rapidly it began to dissipate, radiating out from where the arrow had landed.</p>
<p>"Holy shit, it worked!" Kagome whirled to face him excitedly, grabbing at long black strands that blew across her face from the wind.</p>
<p>"Yeah, good job," Inuyasha grinned at her and gave her a clap. "Now, try and see if you can shoot an arrow into the other areas."</p>
<p>Grinning happily to herself, Kagome turned around and aimed another arrow, this time trying to shoot more towards the left. Several arrows later, she had managed to clear a good bit of the purple fog away, leaving large patches here and there. "If we get closer, I should be able to get the rest. How was that, though?"</p>
<p>"Pretty awesome," Inuyasha told her with a grin. He could sense her power was released quite irregularly, and she was rather slow to aim and shoot, but he wasn't going to bring that up now, for she had accomplished quite the feat, given her lack of training and experience.</p>
<p>"How come I never knew I had power like this in me before?" Kagome wondered, as she jumped onto Inuyasha's back once again so he could run down the slope.</p>
<p>"Probably because you've never been in these kinds of situations before? Like my dad said, maybe your powers were just dormant until they were needed?" Inuyasha suggested. He was frowning, for the scent of blood was thick, but also quite fresh. A sudden thought made him freeze, just as he was about to launch off. If the blood was fresh, then the enemy was likely to be close by. That is, if they were still alive. While he had debated letting Kagome hang back while he went down, that realization had him changing his mind. Splitting up would most likely lead to more disaster.</p>
<p>Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder at her, a look of concern in his eyes. "I…don't know if you're going to want to see what's down there, Kagome. It's bad. Really bad. There are a ton of bodies, everywhere, and most likely they are all dead."</p>
<p>Kagome's heart clenched a bit as she gazed down at her boyfriend's concerned golden eyes. "You're right, I don't want to see what's down there. I would be perfectly happy if I never had to…but…I'm going to have to see it, if I'm to get any closer and clear the rest of that demonic haze out of there. From what your father said, we're going to be in for a battle, if there is any hope of us ending this so we can go home, and I want that more than anything. I'm going to have to learn to handle this sort of thing. As much as I hate the idea and don't want to."</p>
<p>Inuyasha held her gaze for a long moment. "Ok. Just let me know if it gets to be too much for you, and I'll get you out of there."</p>
<p>"Thank you," Kagome kissed his temple, then glanced up, her jaw set firm. "Let's just get this over with."</p>
<p>Ears lowered, Inuyasha ran down the slope towards the battlefield, pausing now and then when they were close enough to the patches of purple fog for Kagome to purify them away without getting too close to the dead bodies. He could feel how stiff she had gotten on his back, so he kept his hands on her thighs, hoping the contact would help comfort her.</p>
<p>"That's just about all of it," Inuyasha glanced back at her, worrying when he saw how pale she was. "We should probably go in the midst of all of it though, to see if there are any survivors. And maybe find a clue of some kind as to what did all of this." All she did was nod, so he solemnly headed into the site of the battle.</p>
<p>Blood was literally everywhere, and the stench of it so strong that even Kagome could smell it. Inuyasha cursed his sensitive nose, for it was making him a bit light-headed. Random body parts were strewn about on the trampled earth, an arm here, a leg there, from both human and youkai sources. "If you sense any shards, let me know," Inuyasha said quietly.</p>
<p>Kagome had to force herself to open her eyes and look. What she saw made her immediately ill. He hadn't been lying when he had told her that there were bodies everywhere, and it was truly the most gruesome sight she had ever seen in her entire life. "Inu…yasha…" she croaked, grabbing his shoulder desperately. "Let me down. Now."</p>
<p>"No, whatever did this might be close," Inuyasha whispered back. "You <em>need</em> to stay on my back."</p>
<p>"No…don't understand…gonna throw up," Kagome gagged, clapping a hand to her mouth.</p>
<p>Inuyasha immediately stooped and let her down, just in the nick of time. He grabbed her around the waist for support so she didn't fall on her face as she bent over and emptied the contents of her stomach, as he could tell she was feeling rather weak right now.</p>
<p>"S-sorry," Kagome hiccuped, as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. By some miracle she hadn't gotten any vomit on either of them. Suddenly she felt deathly cold, so she grabbed her other kimono and pulled it on.</p>
<p>"No need to apologize," Inuyasha muttered, as he held her waist and pulled her back from the pile she left on the ground. "Makes me a bit nauseous myself." He stooped and let her on his back once again, while wandering all over, looking for any signs of life. There was somebody alive, a middle-aged man, who blinked and gurgled at them when they got near. He was partially disemboweled, his intestines hanging out into the mud next to him.</p>
<p>"Forgive me," Inuyasha mumbled, as he bent down and picked up a bloody sword, before ending the man's life. There had been no hope for him, and he would have died soon enough, so ending it right now was the kindest possible thing he could have done. On his back, Kagome was shaking like a leaf.</p>
<p>There were traces of so many different youkai all over the place, which confused Inuyasha. It was as if they had all attacked the village as a joint effort, leaving nobody alive in their wake. Most likely the sheer number of them was the sole reason the entire demon slayer village had been annihilated. Just as Inuyasha was about to run the fuck out of there, his ears picked up a noise from behind one of the huts. Somebody else was alive.</p>
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  <em>A/N: Yes, we were alllllll waiting for this moment lol. Enjoying all of the reviews so far!</em>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Party of Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Inuyasha darted in the direction of the noise, which was coming from underneath a crushed section of roof. With his demon strength, he easily lifted and flung it aside, to find a young woman laying face down on the ground. There was a huge gash on her back, but she was still alive. "Kagome, I found a survivor," Inuyasha said hoarsely. He knelt next to her and tried to get a good look, but she was half covered in mud.</p>
<p>"Is it just her back, that's injured?" Kagome croaked weakly. She felt the urge to vomit again, but was able to keep it down. "Let me see if I can do something for her."</p>
<p>As Inuyasha gently let her down, Kagome stumbled towards the girl, falling onto her knees in the mud to get a closer look. Blood was still freely flowing from the wound, so the first goal was to make that stop. "Get me some kind of cloth!" Kagome ordered. Inuyasha whirled around, eyes quickly scanning for something of use, and then spotted some what appeared to have been laundry hung up to dry, that had been covered by the roof when the hut collapsed. He grabbed a few kimono and gave them to Kagome, who quickly covered the girls back with it and applied pressure.</p>
<p>While Kagome got busy using her healing powers, Inuyasha turned his attention away from them, so he could constantly scan the surrounding area, including the sky. There was no guarantee that all of the attacking youkai had gone away, so he was on high alert, ready to grab Kagome at the first sign of danger to get them the hell out of there. It seemed an eternity passed, but not a single soul ever appeared.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kagome had been hard at work, stopping the bleeding at last, and doing her best to bandage the girl up as best as she could. It was a very crude job, but her goal was achieved at minimum. However her work was far from over, and she wasn't going to be able to finish it here. "I think it's safe to move her. We need to get her near some water, so I can clean her up," she said, tugging on Inuyasha's baggy sleeve, for he was facing away from them, scanning the horizon.</p>
<p>"Alright. Get on my back and I'll carry her. I think I remember seeing a river flowing to the south of here," Inuyasha told her. Letting Kagome jump onto his back first, he let her get situated before scooping the now unconscious girl up in his arms. They were out of the field of death not a millisecond too soon. As he had expected, they soon came to a winding creek, where he stopped on a flat grassy section near the wide part and lay the girl down flat.</p>
<p>"Inuyasha, can you use your claws or that knife you made to cut the bandaging and her suit away so I can see and clean her wound a little better?" Kagome asked. She had noticed that from moving her, the wound had opened, as fresh red blood drops were starting to seep through the bandaging. While he worked on that, she grabbed a partially ripped kimono and soaked it in the creek to wash the girl's back with.</p>
<p>Once she had the girl as clean as she could, Kagome set to work using her powers to try and heal the girl as best as she possibly could. While the wound was deep, it wasn't as bad as she originally thought, but it was still going to take a lot of effort to get it to close or at least stabilize.</p>
<p>Inuyasha watched with wonder as his girlfriend rested her hands on the unknown girl's back, with that soft pink glow growing as she started to concentrate. There wasn't anything he could do in the meantime, so he grabbed a piece of cloth to wet it and headed back to try and clean the dirt and blood off of her face. His eyes widened a bit, as he revealed her features. "She looks so much like Sonya," he blinked incredulously. The resemblance was quite uncanny, although this girl had a slightly smaller nose, her face shape was almost spot on.</p>
<p>Kagome cracked her eyes open at that. "Seriously?" Inuyasha nodded. "Weird," she mumbled and closed her eyes to concentrate once again. All she could afford to think about right now was saving this girl, and hoping that the injury hadn't caused permanent damage to her spine. The demon slayers had been their best lead, and she was apparently the only remaining one.</p>
<p>By evening, she was fairly confident that her efforts hadn't been in vain, and partially collapsed, as she literally felt weak from exerting herself for so many hours. "Are you ok?" Inuyasha asked, leaping to her side in an instant. The pile of wood in his arms had been immediately discarded, as he rushed forward to catch her in his arms before she fell to the ground.</p>
<p>"I'll be fine," Kagome told him in a daze. Her head was hurting a little bit now. "Where's our water flask? Thanks," she said numbly, as Inuyasha leaned over and handed it to her. He watched her with concern as she drank the entire contents only to stare dully at the fire.</p>
<p>"Do you think you can eat?" Inuyasha asked quietly, noticing that she was still rather pale and looked withdrawn. When she looked at him and nodded shakily, he handed her some cooked fish. They ate silently for a while, until his nose picked up the scent of salt. He glanced over to Kagome only to see her quickly bury her head into her arms as she started sobbing.</p>
<p>Ripping off one last big mouthful of fish, Inuyasha discarded the remaining bit and scooted over to his girlfriend. There was no point in asking her what was wrong since it was blatantly obvious, given today's disaster they had encountered. "Come here," he murmured, reaching out to pull her onto his lap.</p>
<p>Absolutely exhausted, Kagome found herself falling onto Inuyasha, sobbing and hyperventilating into his chest. All he did was hold her and stroke her back, allowing her to just let it all out. Her tears had been delayed, as she had spent the majority of the day in shock, and then was just so focused on healing the girl, but with that taken care of now, it was as if a floodgate had opened.</p>
<p>Inuyasha just held his girlfriend silently, as she gripped his robe tightly, balling the fabric up in her fists, as she continued crying into his chest. He rocked her gently, trying everything he could to soothe her, but knew that he would just have to let her tears run their course. It broke his heart to see her sobbing with such agony, but she needed to get it out.</p>
<p>Eventually her sobs lessened, turning into hiccups, before subsiding into heavy breathing. "You…I keep…I keep thinking about that man," Kagome gasped, her voice shaking as much as she was, when she tried to speak. "The one…the one you had to..you know." Another round of sobs came out.</p>
<p>"I know. I hated to have to do that, more than anything, but it was mercy," Inuyasha said quietly to the top of her head. Even so, he couldn't help but feel the guilt of it. He wished none of it had to happen, that they didn't have to witness that carnage, that she didn't have to see any of them, especially that man.</p>
<p>"I know," Kagome gasped, eventually lifting her head to gaze up at him. He looked down at her sadly, seeing how bloodshot her eyes were, all red and swollen and shining from the tears that had been flowing. "You did what was best. I just…I just never thought I'd have to see something like that. All those people…" She wanted to cry, but her body felt as if it had literally run out of tears.</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a chaste kiss as she trembled in his arms. "I know. I really hate that you had to see all of that. Wish I could say it won't ever happen again, but this is a whole different world right now. I'll protect you from it as best as I can, but I can't promise you that you won't ever see death again."</p>
<p>Kagome blinked up at him, for he was a bit blurry looking with all of her tears. "My head is killing me so bad right now. I feel like it's splitting wide open."</p>
<p>"You need to lay down and try to rest then," Inuyasha told her. He glanced over at the mystery girl and noted she seemed to be doing just fine, and appeared to be asleep. They likely wouldn't need to worry about her surviving through the night. It was black out now, with the only light coming from their campfire, as the moon was close to a quarter.</p>
<p>"Not without you," Kagome gasped, grabbing his kimono as he moved her to lay her down on the ground near the fire.</p>
<p>"I'm not going anywhere," Inuyasha told her, as he lay down with her, using the long sleeve of his kimono to help cover her, while resting a leg on top of her bare ones. She gripped the fabric of his chest and buried her face once again, although this time she didn't cry. All she needed was to smell him and be near to him, feeling his warmth.</p>
<p>"Hey, Inuyasha, she's waking up!" Kagome exclaimed excitedly, as she crouched next to the girl she had saved. Movement had caught her attention from the corner of her eye, when the girl started to move about. She had been trying to push herself upright when Kagome had come over to offer her a hand. The girl had ignored her and continued to struggle to rise, almost making it, before she spotted Inuyasha.</p>
<p>"Youkai!" she hissed angrily, as she reached for her hip, only to look shocked when the item she was trying to grab wasn't there. Then she reached for her shoulder pad and came up empty handed. "Stay away!" she said angrily, locking eyes with the hanyou, who to her surprise, started to retreat.</p>
<p>"He's fine, don't worry," Kagome put her hands up, before wisely backing away, when she guessed that the girl had been trying to find a weapon of some sort. However the girl was not listening, and with her eyes locked onto Inuyasha, she reached for her ankle and grabbed some kind of weapon, which she promptly flung at him.</p>
<p>"I'm not your enemy!" Inuyasha yelled at her, as he easily ducked and avoided what looked like some kind of throwing knife. Thankfully the girl seemed to still be suffering the effects of her attack, for her aim and reflexes were pretty bad right now and it missed him by a wide arc.</p>
<p>"You're a youkai, of course you are! And who or what are you?" she glared suspiciously at Kagome, who had quickly scooted away from her a few moments ago. The girl looked normal enough, but she didn't seem too concerned about the youkai standing behind her, which was some concern. Actually he was a hanyou, she realized, when she got a better look at his ears. Something was wrong here, because humans didn't travel around with hanyou.</p>
<p>"Relax, we aren't going to hurt you," Kagome gave the girl her best, most friendly smile. "My name is Kagome, and I'm just trying to help you. We found you and you were badly injured, so I healed you. And his name is Inuyasha, and he is a good guy. I promise. I wouldn't be traveling around with him if he wasn't."</p>
<p>"A human would never travel around with a youkai, even if it's nothing but a mere hanyou," the girl said suspiciously, glancing back at Kagome with narrowed eyes. "You're trying to trick me. What do you want with me?"</p>
<p>Kagome smiled at her and held her hands up, letting them glow soft pink as she focused on releasing her powers. "It's not a trick. I really am a healer, and I healed your wound myself. Let me have your hand, so you can feel for yourself." She held a hand out, and the girl only stared at it for several long moments, before reaching out to make contact. As soon as she did, she quickly withdrew her hand and gave them a sharp look.</p>
<p>"I don't understand," the strange girl told them, as she started to glance around frantically. "Where am I? Where is my village and my family? Why am I here with you two?"</p>
<p>Sensing her growing distress, Kagome bit her lip and tried to put a hand on the girl's shoulder, which she recoiled from. Before she could try to think of how to answer those questions, Inuyasha chimed in. "We don't know where we are, but it's not far from your village. Your family was attacked and your entire village was destroyed. They're all gone. Every single one of them is dead."</p>
<p>"That can't be true!" the girl exclaimed in horror, immediately struggling to get to her feet and failing. "We were only attacked by some low level demons. At least that's all I remember, for some strange reason. There is no way everybody is dead. And why would I find myself in the company of some youkai right after all of that? It doesn't make sense unless this is a trap and you were sent to kill me. I'll kill you first, hanyou!"</p>
<p>"Stop!" Kagome ordered, grabbing the girl's arm when she saw how weak she was still. "We arrived at your village after whatever it was had attacked you and left. That's the truth and I swear my life on it."</p>
<p>The girl tried to twist out of Kagome's grasp, but she had a surprisingly good hold on her. "That's a damn lie! There is zero reason a youkai would seek out our village, if it wasn't to attack us!"</p>
<p>"We were told to seek your village out in hopes that at least one of you would be willing to aid us take down Naraku!" Kagome told her quickly. "We came to you for help, to stop this evil from destroying the world as we know it. I'm sure you've also heard word that he broke free of his seal and once again is seeking the sacred jewel." Gauging by the lack of confusion on Sango's face, she figured she was correct in assuming that if Inu no Taisho had received the news, the demon slayers would have as well.</p>
<p>That gave the girl pause, and she regarded them with an odd look. "You want to stop Naraku?"</p>
<p>"Yes, we know he is after these jewel shards and wants to rule youkai and have them take over the land, or some kind of shit like that. We want to stop him so that we can go back home and live happily ever after. However we also need help in achieving that, and were told to find you guys. Got it?" Inuyasha told her loudly.</p>
<p>"Inu no Taisho was the one who told us to find you. He's a really powerful, but seemingly peaceful demon, apparently. Inuyasha is his son," Kagome chimed in, in hopes that the girl would recognize the name, in a positive light. "We would like to get it all over with soon, since we don't live here. So will you please help us destroy the actual evil guy?"</p>
<p>"I've heard that name before. Maybe…maybe if you let me go back to my village, so I can see for myself, I'll decide," she told them at last.</p>
<p>Inuyasha and Kagome shared a glance, before he looked at the confused girl. "Are you planning to go back for a weapon to kill us?"</p>
<p>The girl gave him a smirk. "That depends on what I find there. If what you told me is false, then yes. I will kill you." When it was clear they weren't going to stop her, she struggled to get to her feet and succeeded. Taking note of the direction the stream was flowing in regards to the mountain range behind them, she stumbled upstream.</p>
<p>All Inuyasha and Kagome could do was tag along, following slowly at a safe distance. The demon slayer hadn't fully recovered, although she was capable of walking, so she wasn't moving very fast. Once she caught sight of the village, she did start to pick up the pace, only to fall to her knees wailing, when she saw the dead bodies strewn all over the place. She cried briefly, before stiffly getting to her feet and striding forward.</p>
<p>"Stay here," Inuyasha said quietly to Kagome, for he didn't want to have to subject her to the dead bodies again. The other girl wasn't too far away, and he didn't detect any nearby youkai, so he figured it would be ok to leave her side for a moment. With a few leaps, he caught up to the slayer. "So now that you see we were telling the truth, what's your answer?"</p>
<p>The girl refused to look at him, instead turning to cast a steely glance over the battlefield. "I will have my revenge on that monster, whoever he is. I will hunt him to the ends of the earth and make him pay for what he did here. We will talk more about that later. First help me burn all of the bodies. They deserve more than to rot into the ground."</p>
<p>Kagome watched from a distance as Inuyasha quickly started a fire and then made a couple of torches, passing one to the girl she had saved. Although she felt like it was poor of her to stand around doing nothing, she honestly didn't think she would be able to stomach walking around burning the dead. While she stood around, trying not to look at what they were doing, she noticed a small yellow and black cat heading her way. It was clearly a youkai cat, judging by the unnaturally large red eyes and the fact that it had not one, but two tails.</p>
<p>"Oh, you're hurt!" Kagome exclaimed, when she noticed the blood smeared on the fur, and the distinct limp on the right front leg. Dropping to her knees, she held a hand out, and the little kitty made a beeline to her. She detected the youkai aura coming off of the cat as it got closer, but it didn't seem hostile. The cat immediately went to her hand, rubbing its head and seeing affection. Kagome gently rested her other hand on the cat's back, letting her power course through its body.</p>
<p>The kitten was a nice distraction from the battlefield, so as she noted they were still burning bodies, for there were a ton of them, Kagome turned around with the little cat in her arms and kept watch on the forest and the meadow they had walked through to get here.</p>
<p>"What are you holding?" came Inuyasha's voice from behind her, making her start slightly and turn around. Having gotten lost in thought briefly, she hadn't heard him walking up.</p>
<p>"A kitten. She just wandered up to me out of nowhere and was hurt, so I healed her," Kagome explained. "She seems super friendly."</p>
<p>"Oh. Well, I picked up a bow and arrows that I found from what seemed to be weapon storage. It's a lot better than that one we fashioned up out of a stick and some hair. You should have a lot better luck with this," Inuyasha said, as he held it up to show her.</p>
<p>"Is that…Kirara?" a voice behind Inuyasha asked, sounding slightly worried at first, but then hopeful. "Kirara!"</p>
<p>With a loud meow, the kitten leapt from Kagome's arms and raced towards the girl who was still stumbling their direction. "Oh, Kirara! I'm so glad you're still alive!"</p>
<p>Kagome smiled when she saw the girl had happy tears. She headed towards the reunited pair. "She came up to me and she was hurt on her right side. It wasn't too bad but I healed her."</p>
<p>"Thank you," the girl bowed. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she sniffed a couple of times and stared at the two strange people in front of her. "I think you told me your names earlier, but I do not remember them. I am Sango."</p>
<p>"I'm Kagome," Kagome reminded her, "And this is Inuyasha." She gazed at the girl, agreeing with Inuyasha that the resemblance to Sonya was uncanny. Her hair was different too, for Sango had two sidepieces that were cut short, in front of either ear.</p>
<p>Sango nodded curtly at them. "Before we go, there are some things I need to get. I shall be right back." Kirara perched on her shoulder, the demon slayer turned and headed back to the village, navigating through the various fires. Upon her return, she was carrying a very large boomerang and had a satchel stuffed full of something. "First we need to go to Takahagi. There is medicine that I would like to get there, and a market to stock up at. Plus somebody I need to speak to."</p>
<p>"You'll be able to walk there, wherever that is that you're taking us?" Inuyasha asked. "If you would rather wait and rest until you're healed more, we can do that."</p>
<p>"Oh, I'm not walking," Sango smirked. "Kirara?" With a growl, her kitten leap to the ground. Flames erupted from her paws as she began to transform, going from cute little kitten into something at least double the size of a saber-toothed tiger, making Kagome gape with surprise. She had teeth to match the prehistoric animal as well. "I'll be riding her. She's fast, but we can walk slow so you can keep up."</p>
<p>That was directed at Kagome, who grinned and tugged on Inuyasha's sleeve. "Oh, we can keep up alright. I'll be on his back."</p>
<p>Inuyasha groaned and laughed quietly. "We have to do this in front of other people?" he shot her a look.</p>
<p>"If you don't want to walk back and forth across Japan at my pace, then yes," Kagome laughed, and tugged him down to whisper in his ear atop his head. "Maybe I'm starting to like gripping you between my legs."</p>
<p>Inuyasha chuckled lowly at that. "Well, that sounds more like something we really shouldn't be doing in front of other people."</p>
<p>Sango gave them a suspicious look. "What are you two talking and laughing about?"</p>
<p>"Nothing, just making a bad joke about the two of us," Kagome said quickly. "Sorry. We're ready to go." Securing her new bow on her back, Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's shoulders and held on as he stood up.</p>
<p>"Follow me," Sango nodded, nudging Kirara with her knees. The giant cat bounded off, with Inuyasha hot on her heels. Inuyasha easily kept pace, flanking the cat as she ran since he had zero idea where they were going. It was a shortcut of some kind, for they had abandoned the road almost immediately.</p>
<p>It wasn't long before they made it to Takahagi. Upon entering the village, Kirara chunk down to her former kitten size and scampered around as she followed the trio. Sango led the way, with Inuyasha twitching his ears as they walked, trying not to listen to the various comments people were whispering to each other. They turned down a side pathway, where Sango stopped at a couple of stalls to purchase a few small items, before heading to a temple.</p>
<p>Several monks were standing around, but didn't pay the odd trio much attention as they passed by. "There he is," Sango muttered, as she turned to the right and made a beeline towards a young monk with black hair pulled back in a short ponytail, who was facing away from them.</p>
<p>Inuyasha and Kagome followed her closely, both gaping a bit in surprise when Sango grabbed the young man's arm, making him turn around, and noticing that he had a very close resemblance to Mark. This was so bizarre, they both thought, as they shot each other a look, for what were the odds that they would end up in the past with two people that looked just like their two friends from their own time?</p>
<p>"Sango, my dear," the Mark look-alike exclaimed, as he grabbed her hand, which she pulled away a moment later. He glanced down and saw her the bandages wrapped around her torso, on top of her black suit. "You've been hurt. Who did this to you? And who are they?" Casting a suspicious look at Inuyasha and Kagome, who were staring back with wide eyes, he frowned.</p>
<p>"Naraku, I assume," Sango told him stiffly. "My entire village was slaughtered. I almost died myself, apparently, but these two came across my village after the attack and found me and saved my life. She's a healer of some sorts, apparently. And he's the half-breed son of Inu no Taisho, apparently. We are going after Naraku once again, and I really hate to say it, but we are going to need your help. So come with us."</p>
<p>"Naraku? He was able to kill off all of the demon slayers?" Miroku's eyes went wide and his face ghosted. "I had no idea he had gotten that strong."</p>
<p>"Well, he has, so soon after breaking free from his seal. I fear we are in for an even bigger fight this time, especially with the jewel being shattered somehow," Sango informed him. "You're particularly useful, out of the few that I know who are not from my own village, and you have personal reason to take him down. Those are the only reasons I'm requesting you to join us." She nodded her head back at Inuyasha and Kagome, who were merely standing there silently. The monk glanced their way and eyeballed them for a moment before heading straight for Kagome.</p>
<p>"Apologies, miss, excuse my manners. I didn't mean to not introduce myself earlier. Name's Miroku, and it's a pleasure to meet you," he smiled, reaching for her hand and dropping to one knee. "Will you bear my children?"</p>
<p>Kagome blinked and stuttered, as Inuyasha let out a growl and stepped forward. Before either of them could speak or do anything, Sango was there in an instant. She grabbed the monk's ear and yanked him backwards, making him fall flat on his ass on the ground. "You pervert! Must you say that to every single female you encounter?"</p>
<p>"Only the pretty ones," Miroku grinned sheepishly. Sango suddenly gave him an icy death glare and hmpffed. He got to his feet and dusted his bottom off. "Well, pardon that interruption, but I still haven't gotten your names. If we are going to be traveling companions, I'll need to know what to call you."</p>
<p>"I'm Kagome, and this is Inuyasha," she told him quickly. "So, about this Naraku, it sounds as if you are familiar with him? If so then I think it would be a good idea for you to stick with us. We will definitely need all the help we can get."</p>
<p>"I am so honored to be so highly considered," he told her with a big smile. "Naraku has obtained a good number of shards, and has been using them to gain strength and allies. Not only does he have youkai on his side, but he has also gained control over the Band of Seven. He's a tricky one, and has a knack for manipulating others into doing his bidding."</p>
<p>"We've heard of the Band of Seven too," Inuyasha growled. "Almost had a run-in with three of them, but we managed to stay hidden until they passed."</p>
<p>"A formidable bunch," Miroku nodded solemnly. "Fortunately they rarely travel together as all seven. Usually either solo or two of them, but occasionally three or four. Rumor has it that they were each given a jewel shard to enhance their skills, putting them on the same level as youkai. As if they weren't feared enough beforehand. Now they fight for Naraku and help him obtain more shards."</p>
<p>"So not only do we have to hunt down Naraku, we also have to deal with these guys?" Kagome's voice quavered a bit.</p>
<p>"I'm afraid so," Miroku sighed deeply. "I feel it is a losing battle, but we can not give in without a fight. Lady Sango is a formidable warrior, and I have a handful of tricks up my sleeve. I take it that the hanyou-"</p>
<p>"Inuyasha. I have a name, so use it," he spoke up flatly. Deep down, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the way their party had doubled all of a sudden, especially with the way he had been staring at his girlfriend. This monk definitely seemed to have similar characteristics to the Mark he knew in the modern world, which concerned him a bit.</p>
<p>"I apologize and meant no offense. Inuyasha it is," he said smoothly. "I have no doubt that you also have the ability to deal a lot of damage. As for you, my lady, I sensed your power as soon as I saw you," Miroku gave Kagome a nod. He glanced between the two of them, regarding them quietly. "Well, then perhaps the odds are more in our favor than I originally thought. The four of us shall begin our journey tomorrow morning."</p>
<p>"Five," Sango interrupted, turning to give him a pointed look. "Kirara counts too, you know."</p>
<p>"Ah, five, pardon me," Miroku appeased her. "I was not neglecting to acknowledge her presence. The five of us shall leave in the morning, as I will need some time to prepare. You may stay here tonight to rest and prepare. I'm sure I can find some spare futons for you to use, and I would recommend a bath, as such luxuries will not always be available once we leave, although I shall do my best. Now, I have some business to attend to, so let's meet up at sunset here."</p>
<p>The monk walked off and Sango glanced at her two new companions. "I have someone else to go see, before we leave. The baths that Miroku spoke of are behind the building, if you would like to use them in the meantime, if you have nothing else to do."</p>
<p>With that, she and Kirara walked off. "Ok, so is this not the weirdest thing?" Kagome hissed, once she was out of earshot. "We both come back in time, and they look and act an awful lot like Sonya and Mark. Except Sango isn't quite as open and friendly towards us right now. But that's to be expected given the circumstances, I think. It's just so freaking bizarre!"</p>
<p>"I agree," Inuyasha wrinkled his brow. "It's like we were just meant to meet up here. Out of all the fucking people alive in this time, we found them. What if Sonya and Mark are reincarnations of them? I'm not one to believe in that sort of shit, but I can't think of any other explanation."</p>
<p>"Maybe," Kagome mused, before giving him a bright smile. "How about we go check out those baths that they were talking about? Not like there's much of anything for us to do here, and there's still a few hours left for us to kill."</p>
<p>The next morning, the four of them, plus Kirara, headed down the road leading out of town. Kagome had shortened her kimono a bit, as it hit mid thigh and made her look like she had nothing on her bottom half previously. Miroku was now carrying a bronze staff with rings on it, and Sango had changed into a green skirt and pink kimono top, however it looked like she had her slayer outfit on underneath still.</p>
<p>"Well, ladies, so it begins. We have a long road ahead of us, so we should take the time to all get to know each other. What do you say?" Miroku asked. He had popped up behind Sango and Kagome, who were walking ahead together and chatting about something. Two ladies, two very nice asses, and two hands. As if it were the most natural thing in the entire universe, he reached down and gently squeezed an ass cheek in each hand.</p>
<p>Kagome yelped out of shock, while Sango whirled around and promptly smacked Miroku across the face, hard.</p>
<p>With a loud snarl, Inuyasha lurched forward and grabbed the wrist that belonged to the hand that had grabbed his girlfriend's ass. He smelled a wave of fear from the shorter and smaller monk as he gripped and twisted his wrist, just tight enough to hurt but not actually cause any damage. "Don't you dare touch her like that!"</p>
<p>Miroku quickly tried to appease the angry demon. "My apologies, I meant no offense. My hand is cursed, you see? I have to wear this glove, because of that. Naraku was the one who cursed me, and I'm afraid it won't be lifted until he is actually killed."</p>
<p>"That's your right hand," Inuyasha growled. "You were groping Kagome with your left. Enough with the bullshit. Keep your goddamn hands off of her, and we won't have a problem. If you <em>ever</em> grope or lay a hand on my girlfriend like that again, I'll rip your entire fucking hand off. Got it?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, definitely got it," Miroku gulped. Sango turned back to face them once again, took one look at his ghostly white face, and burst into an uncharacteristic fit of laughter.</p>
<p>
  <em>A/N: RIP Kirby Morrow. August 28, 1973-November 18, 2020. So young.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Figured I would post the next two chapters a little early, just to get to this point, in honor of our beloved monk. Both his Japanese and English voice actors have now died.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I admit I never watched the dubbed version, because I strongly prefer the original Japanese voice acting in general (my biggest issue with the English voice actor's is Kagome's voice; the men sounded fine though, from what I recall hearing), but I did enjoy getting to meet him, Scott McNeil, and Richard Ian Cox a few years ago at a con together. They were all really great guys.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Swarmed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So you two have known each other for a while?" Kagome asked, as she glanced over at Sango and Miroku. The duo were sitting on the other side of the campfire circle that Miroku was building. Inuyasha had ducked off to hunt down some dinner, since he was the best suited for that task, with night quickly approaching.</p>
<p>"Since we were young. Miroku would come passing through my village with his father, as traveling monks. So we've seen each other many times over the years, although briefly," Sango answered. She sat there with arms crossed, watching the smolder of the tiny flames as he began to get the actual fire going. The horror of what had happened to her entire family was still so raw in her mind, making it almost impossible for her to hold back her tears. However, she managed, because she wasn't completely alone right now and didn't want to cry in front of people she hardly knew.</p>
<p>Blinking and turning her attention away from the fire, as she forced those thoughts out of her mind, she glanced at Kagome curiously. "I take it you and Inuyasha have known each other for a while yourselves, correct? You two seem very comfortable with each other, all things considering."</p>
<p>Kagome blushed a bit, but also felt a bit of irritation, for she knew what Sango was alluding at. "Yes, we've known each other for several years." Letting out a sigh, she paused and sat straight up, staring straight at the demon slayer and holding her gaze steadily. "I know full well you are naturally quite leery of youkai, despite having a youkai companion of your own, and that you still have your suspicions of Inuyasha. Simply for who he is. I don't want there to be any tension between any of us over something like that, because his is my boyfriend. Please just try to get to know him for who he is, and not base your judgements by how he looks. He might be grumpy and say stupid things, but he has a very good heart."</p>
<p>Sango regarded her solemnly, not breaking her gaze the entire time, while mulling her words over. "So, he is your boyfriend? Is that like what you would call a husband, in the land you come from?"</p>
<p>Kagome let out a small laugh. "No, not a husband. Boyfriend means a man you are dating. You know, courting. So I'm his girlfriend. It's a step before discussing marriage and becoming engaged. It doesn't always lead to that, though. Dating is much more casual."</p>
<p>"Interesting. So I wonder how many girlfriends I have out there," Miroku mused, stroking his chin.</p>
<p>Sango rolled her eyes at him. "None of us care to know. Anyways. I see. I could tell you two were rather close. I'll keep what you say about him in mind."</p>
<p>Inuyasha joined them moments later with plenty of fresh game. They continued their get to know each other game through dinner. As Inuyasha sat there picking the meat off of a bone, his ears flicked a bit as a very high pitched noise in the far off distance caught his attention. It wasn't just one noise, it was numerous noises, he realized a few moments later, as the sound intensified. Whatever the source was, it was heading their general direction. He noticed that Kirara had frozen as well, her ears twitching in effort to hone in on whatever was making the noise as well.</p>
<p>"What is it?" Sango asked suspiciously. She had noticed the change in Kirara's stance immediately, and the way Inuyasha had reacted at the same exact time.</p>
<p>"High pitched screeching, it sounds like. Lots of them, considering how loud it is. Dozens, at least, is my guess, and they're heading this way," Inuyasha said grimly. "They're getting closer. Get your weapons, just in case." He sniffed the air, but it seemed they were upwind from whatever was approaching, and they were just a bit too far off for him to get a whiff.</p>
<p>"I'm always ready to go," Sango informed him. She was on her feet in an instant, with a bristling Kirara at her side.</p>
<p>Kagome nervously got to her feet as well, gripping her new bow. This weapon was much easier to use than their homemade version had been, since it wasn't a literal stick and woven hair, but she still was no pro at archery with her limited experience. It was dark now, with the bit of moon in the sky mostly hidden by the nearby trees. How was she going to be able to see to shoot anything?</p>
<p>"Stay low and do what I say once I know what the hell is going on," Inuyasha ordered, as he took his place at her side in an instant. Tessaiga was out and ready for action. Along with the screeching noises, he could hear the rush of what sounded like wings in the air. His head snapped up, sharp eyes darting back and forth as he saw large, nearly black creatures zooming in the air above them. "Bats!" he yelled.</p>
<p>There were definitely dozens, if not hundreds, and they were nearly the size of a regular human being. It was almost impossible for even Inuyasha to tell, just because they were so dark against the night sky, and moving so fast. The youkai bats had definitely spotted them, for they had taken to swarming around in every direction above the small group of travelers, rather than continue in a straight path.</p>
<p>"Don't let them get near you! They can carry a full size person off!" Sango shouted. Grabbing her boomerang, she flung it up into the sky, taking several bats out. "Inuyasha, you get the other side!"</p>
<p>"I'll protect Lady Kagome!" Miroku volunteered, as he rushed to where she was standing.</p>
<p>Inuyasha growled and glanced at the lecherous monk. Protecting Kagome was his job, but he also needed to be on the offense and take out as many of these bats as he could, for they were starting to swoop down at them. However he couldn't just leave her to fend for herself, with this sort of enemy, so he decided he would just kill them off slowly whenever they came close. According to Sango's shouts, the bats would be very happy to take one of them for a meal if given the chance.</p>
<p>"Inuyasha, go! I'm better at fighting from a distance, if you give me space!" Miroku yelled. Using his staff, he whacked a bat away as it flew down to block his path. As he made it to the duo, he grabbed the beads wrapped around his clothed hand and began to uncover it. "I won't let any harm come to her, I swear it. Now go! There's way too many of them!"</p>
<p>With a growl, Inuyasha shot a look at the determined monk, daring to put his trust in the human. "You better not, or you'll have to face me when this is over." Without waiting a moment longer, he launched off, swinging Tessaiga widely and taking out two nearby bats at once. He hated not being the one to directly protect his girlfriend, but he was best equipped for close combat against these youkai bats, who were coming daringly close.</p>
<p>'<em>Well, I guess now's the time to try and practice what Dad taught me,'</em> Inuyasha thought, as he lifted a hand with flexed claws. "Sankon tessou!" he snarled, as he swiped at the air. The bat that was streaming towards him head-on was immediately torn into several pieces upon being struck by the attack.</p>
<p>Encouraged by the success, Inuyasha continued with Tessaiga, using his claws now and then as an added bonus. It was a good bit of a struggle, keeping his eye on the enemy and his allies as well. Impressively, Sango was kicking some serious ass with her giant boomerang. As he started to race towards a small group of bats that had clustered together and were heading straight for Kagome, he let out a surprised cry when he felt himself suddenly being dragged backwards. It was as if a massive gust of wind was sucking him in, sort of like a very strong vacuum.</p>
<p>Behind him, he could hear yelling but couldn't make out the words. Inuyasha managed to stick Tessaiga in the ground for an anchor and twisted his head around, to see what was going on. Blinking with disbelief, he stared at the monk, who was standing directly in front of Kagome with his arm fully extended. In the dim light, he could see that the bats appeared to be getting sucked into his palm. A few moments later, Miroku dropped his arm and wrapped his prayer beads around it once again.</p>
<p>He was going to have an awful lot of explaining to do later.</p>
<p>Before Inuyasha could make another movement, he choked as he felt himself being slammed down. Another bat had attacked him from behind, seizing the opportunity as he had been distracted. Twisting beneath the youkai, he managed to flip himself over to face it. A huge mouth with jagged teeth was wide open and about to take a bite out of his own face. Using his claws, he managed to rip the bat's face wide open, before effectively killing it.</p>
<p>From behind Miroku, Kagome had been watching with horror, as she had tried to scream out to her boyfriend that he was about to be attacked. He hadn't seemed to have heard her, but he reacted quickly enough when it latched onto him, and within seconds he had killed the enemy. Right now, her heart was pounding something awful. If only she had more practice with her damn bow, and if only it wasn't so damn black out.</p>
<p>"There has got to be an end to them, right?" Sango yelled loudly. She had taken out her fair share of bats with her Hiraikotsu, but still, the swarm came.</p>
<p>"I sense a jewel shard!" Kagome exclaimed, tugging on Miroku's arm to get his attention. She anxiously glanced in the direction Inuyasha was in, but he was still battling the bats, and getting farther away.</p>
<p>"Where?" Miroku yelled back at her, not daring to take a moment to turn his head away. Since they were backed up to a very large tree, the enemy was pretty much forced to come at them from the front, and he wasn't going to let his guard down.</p>
<p>"I don't know, kind of straight ahead of us! It's close but not too close. I need to let Inuyasha know!" she yelled back.</p>
<p>"You're not going anywhere! He'll have to figure it out on his own for right now!" Miroku yelled. There was no chance in hell they could get to him, and as they tried to yell out the heads up, it appeared that he couldn't hear them. His head felt pretty funny right now, and he could only figure that it was the sound the bats were making. If he strained to listen, he could hear faint screeches, but that was the extent his human ears could pick up.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Inuyasha was busy swinging left and right, taking out as many as he could. The bats were getting bolder, despite the fact that so many of them were being slaughtered. As he swung for the hundredth time, a massive black shape had him snapping his head up. "That must be the leader!" he yelled, although he wasn't sure anybody would hear him, given how loud the damn bats were.</p>
<p>There was only one this size, and it was easily double that of an average human. While the other youkai bats lacked eyes, this one had four red glowing eyes on its head. Miroku raised his hand and unleashed his wind tunnel, with the intention of sucking it on, only for the bat to turn its head towards him and open its mouth. The next thing he knew, he had crashed back into Kagome and they were sprawled across the ground, with him on his back on top of her, completely dazed.</p>
<p>"You'll be fighting me!" Inuyasha yelled, as he attempted to leap through the air at the bat, swinging Tessaiga down with all his might. Only to promptly miss and fall straight back down to the ground. Naturally, the bat was extremely agile in the air, and had hit him with its wing as it dodged his sword. He could tell that the bat was using its sonar, kind of like some sort of sonic boom, to knock them around. Even Sango fell victim to its attack, when she tried to launch her boomerang at it. He found that he had just barely managed to dodge when it attempted to send its attack at him.</p>
<p>It was a very frustrating battle, for the bat effectively kept the humans knocked down, while attempting to fend off Inuyasha, who was just too fast to get hit. He was pretty sure that the only reason it hadn't gone back down to eat one of the humans was because he was keeping it so preoccupied with defending itself from his own attacks.</p>
<p>'<em>There has got to be something more I can do,'</em> Inuyasha thought with gritted teeth. He was getting more than tired of doing the same old dance, and his claw attacks were no more effective than trying to swing his sword at it. Taking a moment, he paused and watched as the bat demon hovered, staring right back at him. Thinking briefly over the lessons he had been given recently, he decided to try and slow down and focus as he charged in for his next attack.</p>
<p>As Inuyasha raised Tessaiga again, only to end up dodging another sonic boom, he noted the way the bat seemed a bit stunned immediately upon releasing the attack. It managed to hover in the air, but he could definitely see the subtle change in its behavior. If his knowledge of regular bats in the modern world applied to youkai bats here, then most likely this bat simply wasn't able to withstand its own sonar bouncing back at it.</p>
<p>"Alright, gotta wait for you to do that trick again," Inuyasha growled, as he rushed towards it once again. His eyes keen, he waited for it to pull the move once more, and seized the opportunity to change course and attack the bat in that split second.</p>
<p>This time, the bat wasn't so lucky, and with eardrum-shattering screams, it was knocked back as most of its wing was taken off, right at the shoulder. Now handicapped, the bat was having a much harder time flying and maneuvering, but somehow it was still airborne. With a wide grin, Inuyasha repeated his last tactic, this time finishing the bat off completely.</p>
<p>While he had been fighting the leader, Sango had managed to get back up and busied herself with taking down the rest of the smaller ones. Miroku had gotten back to his feet as well and was helping her dispose of the stragglers.</p>
<p>With the bats now defeated, Kagome managed to get to her feet, just as Inuyasha leapt over to land lightly in front of her. "You're hurt," he frowned, reaching forward to rub his thumb on her face where there was a smudge. In the low light, he couldn't tell if it was blood or dirt. There was so much blood around from the bats that his nose was overwhelmed by it.</p>
<p>Kagome shook her head. "Probably just dirt. My face feels ok." She hesitated and glanced up at him, noting his concerned frown. "My back is a little sore now, though. Otherwise I'm fine."</p>
<p>"You sure?" he asked her, satisfied when she nodded in response.</p>
<p>"I apologize for landing on Kagome. It couldn't be helped, when the bat did something to us to send us hurtling backwards like that. Forgive me," Miroku bowed slightly, as he warily approached the couple.</p>
<p>"It's fine. Apparently it couldn't be helped," Inuyasha said shortly. "That demon bat was awfully overpowered."</p>
<p>"That's right! I almost forgot!" Kagome exclaimed, grabbing Inuyasha by the crook of the arm. "I sensed a jewel shard and then the big one showed up. Let's hurry up and get it." Tugging her boyfriend along, she led him to the pieces that remained of the giant bat. She had no idea which body part was which, as it was in massive chunks, but she was able to easily sense where the shard was. "Right there. Do you mind lifting that chunk of flesh for me so I can grab it?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha could see her grimace in the dark. "What's the matter, squeamish?" he teased her a bit, as he did what she asked. Even he had to admit that the battlefield was more than a little gross, from the sheer number of casualties of their battle.</p>
<p>"Hey, I'm standing here in all this and not throwing up, so give me credit! Even I can smell the gore with my little human nose," she informed him.</p>
<p>"Alright, credit is due," Inuyasha grinned at her. Once she had the shard, he led her back to the others, picking out the cleanest path through the mess. This area had been their intended campsite, but it definitely was no longer an option. All were in favor of immediately moving on, so they headed a short distance away, as it was the middle of the night and everybody was beyond tired.</p>
<p>"I have the biggest headache from those bats," Inuyasha grumbled quietly. He was stretched out on his side, with Kagome laying in front of him. Right now he was envious of the humans he travelled with, for they hadn't been aware of just how painfully loud demon bats could be. His skull felt like it could split wide open.</p>
<p>"Get some rest and you'll be good by morning," Kagome told him quietly. Reaching up, she began running her fingers through his hair, soothing him with her touch, as his eyes fell shut.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Rightful Heir</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"It's so foggy here," Kagome whispered into Inuyasha's ear, as he carried her on his back. They had been traveling at a good speed, since both Miroku and Sango rode on Kirara's back. The cat was large and strong enough to run and fly with two fully grown humans on her back. They were currently traveling down a deep canyon, with so much fog that they couldn't even see the walls on either side.</p>
<p>"Yeah. Feels like I'm swimming more than running," Inuyasha told her. The fog seemed almost unnaturally thick, and his fire rat clothes were starting to get a bit damp. He glanced to his left, where he could make out Kirara by the flames that surrounded her feet. The only way he was able to navigate was by listening to the thin stream to his right, that flowed down and out of the canyon, and by keeping an eye on the faint glow from the cat's flames to his left. Water didn't turn and go up walls, so he knew that wherever it flowed, it would lead to the way out.</p>
<p>Eventually the fog started to thin out a bit, and they found themselves out of the canyon, in a wide open meadow. There was still a lot of fog here, but it was more sparse and not one continuous blanket.</p>
<p>As Inuyasha ran, a sudden youkai presence made him slow down suddenly. It was very strong, very close, and very familiar, but also unfamiliar at the same time. "What's going on?" Kagome asked urgently, as he slowed his pace.</p>
<p>"Someone's here," Inuyasha told her grimly, tightening his grip on her legs. The presence was nearing, and he realized with a start that it was directly in front of them. Kirara had also slowed significantly, as soon as she noticed they weren't at her side any longer.</p>
<p>Through the mist and fog, a tall male youkai with waist length white hair approached. He was dressed in all white with red flower accents, and had spiky silver armor on. He had golden eyes, a crescent moon on his forehead, and two pink stripes on each cheek. With a start, Inuyasha realized the resemblance to himself and his father. This had to be the brother that he had only recently learned he had. However, even if this was not his brother, it was clear that they were closely related, as he could tell by the distinct inu daiyoukai scent.</p>
<p>Sango immediately grabbed her giant boomerang and flung it at the demon. "Hiraikotsu!" she yelled. Before it could hit the youkai, he easily leapt out of harm's way, and they could see he had a long, fluffy tail trailing behind him.</p>
<p>"This Sesshomaru isn't interested in wasting time on a child and her toy," he said icily, turning in midair and sending a glowing green whip towards the flying trio. It latched onto Kirara's legs, sending her tumbling into a somersault. Sango and Miroku found themselves dumped onto the ground, while Kirara screeched in pain and struggled to break free. He released her a moment later, as she transformed back into a kitten.</p>
<p>"Kirara!" Sango screamed, as she rushed to collect her kitten in her arms. The now tiny cat was whimpering in pain and there were thin gashes on her legs where she had been struck.</p>
<p>"Fuck, it's him," Inuyasha swore under his breath. He was frozen in place, trying to contemplate the best course of action. This was his brother after all, and he remembered what his father had spoken about him. From his description, he made it sound as if his brother was a relentless killing machine, and from first impressions, he was very much inclined to agree.</p>
<p>"You," Sesshomaru said. It was only one word, but it had impact and got everybody's attention. "What is a filthy hanyou like yourself doing with that sword? Who did you steal it from?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha bared his fang in a growl at the insult. "I didn't steal it from anybody. It called to me in the tomb of the Great Fang and chose me to wield it."</p>
<p>Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, as he took a closer look at the hanyou in front of him. He had heard rumors as of late, but did not take them for the truth. When he had detected the youkai trace of his lineage, just a short while ago, he had followed at a distance to observe them. "Impossible. My father would not create such an abomination. The shame that would bring upon our lineage. How exactly was that sword given to you?"</p>
<p>"I pulled it out of the rock it was imbedded in, so nobody gave it to me. Inu no Taisho told me that the sword rejected you when you attempted to claim it. He said that I am its rightful wielder," Inuyasha growled. He knew it was unwise to provoke this unknown demon, no matter that they were half-brothers. However it was the truth, and he wasn't going to lie about any of it.</p>
<p>"That sword was meant to be mine," Sesshomaru said, venom in his tone. "It was forged for somebody with my strength and my blood, not for some half-breed mongrel that's no more than a mere infant. However it is true that I could not get it to release itself from the boulder it was imbedded in, but at least now it is no longer sealed in the stone. I'm going to take back what should have been mine in the first place!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha tightened his grip on Kagome's thigh to reassure her. He was fully aware of the danger they were in, and there was no way he was going to get into a battle with such a powerful youkai with her on his back. "You'll have to fight me for it," Inuyasha replied, staring him down.</p>
<p>As much as it pained him to do so, he let go of his girlfriend's thighs and loosened her grip from around his neck. If he was to try and leap to the others to drop her off, he was sure that Sesshomaru would try to attack all of them. If he turned to Kagome and told her to run, he wasn't certain his brother wouldn't attack her just because he was an asshole. So he had to just let her go right now and then lure his brother away, leaving her to run to the others.</p>
<p>Unable to read Sesshomaru's face, Inuyasha let go of Kagome's hand and lurched the opposite direction from her and their companions, pulling Tessaiga out of its sheath in the process. To his shock and dismay, it remained the rusty old sword, instead of transforming into the giant sword as it had before. "What the fuck?" Inuyasha growled, as he found himself dodging a sudden blow.</p>
<p>Sheathing Tessaiga so he could easily escape, he drew the sword again, but it was the same banged up thin blade. A stream of curses spewed from his mouth as he found himself narrowly avoiding the green whip that his brother produced. With the constant barrage of attacks, he could barely afford to look over and make sure that Kagome had joined the others, for that would create an opening that would likely take him down.</p>
<p>"You have no right to carry Tessaiga!" Sesshomaru declared, as he noticed the hanyou's struggles with the blade. He had given up on attempting to use it, and was trying to attack back with just his claws. So he decided he would just toy with this strange hanyou, before taking his life and the sword he so eagerly sought.</p>
<p>"Tessaiga seemed to think otherwise," Inuyasha retorted. He moved to evade the whip once again, which smelled acidic, as it zipped rather uncomfortably close to his face. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he found himself completely ensnared in something thick, white, and furry. It was wrapped around him so tight, his arms were flush against his side, and he couldn't budge at all. The next thing he knew he was being flung across the field, the white tail like appendage unraveling as he went.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru was on him in an instant, pinning him to the ground. Inuyasha snarled and tried to shove him off. Long claws dug into his wrist as his brother grabbed his forearm, which immediately started to burn as if it were on fire. Even his claws were acidic, Inuyasha realized with wide eyes, as he could smell it burning into his flesh.</p>
<p>Somewhat desperately, Inuyasha felt a surge in his youkai as he clawed at his brother's neck and shoulder. Golden streaks shot from the tips of his claws, leaving huge gashes on Sesshomaru, as he was knocked backwards. The older demon was a bit stunned, and rather angered, although he was trying hard to hide it.</p>
<p>With hardly enough time to get back to his feet, Inuyasha bounded off a bit to put some distance between the two of them. His left wrist was burning like hell, but it wasn't going to do much damage, so he ignored the wound. With the healing power of his youkai blood, it wouldn't be of much concern. He had expected Sesshomaru to get to his feet and pursue him, however he had misjudged.</p>
<p>Instead of chasing after him, Sesshomaru had sneered and turned to race towards the small group of humans that were watching them battle it out. The one with the bow and arrow was surprisingly worrisome, for a human. When she had shot an arrow their way, he had sensed the amount of spiritual energy in her shot. Fortunately her aim was off.</p>
<p>Inuyasha's heart leapt in his throat, as he leapt to intervene his brother's course. Tessaiga pulsed at his side. They were almost upon Kagome and the others now, who were all staring up at Sesshomaru, taking up defensive stances. Although he hadn't seen the arrow, he had felt her power, and knew she had done something. "You all stay out of this, ok? This is my fight!" he yelled at them.</p>
<p>Yanking Tessaiga from its sheath, Inuyasha was thrilled to see it glow yellow and burst into a six foot blade once again. Just as Sesshomaru was about to send an attack their way, Inuyasha leapt in front of him, blocking the attack with Tessaiga. "Harm so much as a single hair on her body and I will fucking kill you!" Inuyasha snarled loudly, as he fought his brother off.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru retreated a bit, staring rather furiously at the now huge Tessaiga, the sword that was meant to be his. Inuyasha panted a bit to catch his breath, and held the sword out in front of him threateningly. He had managed to successfully release youkai through his claw attack earlier, so perhaps he could do the same with Tessaiga. So much energy was swirling around the sword right now, but it was chaotic.</p>
<p>When Sesshomaru charged him again, Inuyasha swung at him with Tessaiga but missed. His brother was significantly faster and more agile than the youkai he previously fought with it. He thought he had done pretty well the last battle, but apparently that just meant the bats weren't quite on the same level as his half-brother were.</p>
<p>"You're rather protective of that human girl," Sesshomaru commented, as he yanked Inuyasha's feet out from underneath him via poison whip to the ankle. "For some reason you seem to be quite attached to something so worthless. Then again, trash attracts trash."</p>
<p>"Fuck you!" Inuyasha growled. He had been a little tired before, but after Sesshomaru targeted his girlfriend and the others, a massive amount of adrenaline flooded his system and he felt completely rejuvenated. Raising Tessaiga, he leapt to attack once again, this time shattering the armor that adorned his brother's left side. He felt immense satisfaction when shock briefly flashed across the older demon's face.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru flew up, his face contorting into a rather scary, toothy grin. This hanyou was strong, there was no doubt about it, although he was clearly green when it came to battle. It was a bit unnerving to think how strong he would be when he actually became a full-fledged fighter. He was a bit enraged in all honestly though, despite the fact he was able to maintain a cool, collected facade. For the most part. The fact that a hanyou was forcing him to enter his pure youkai form was infuriating.</p>
<p>Inuyasha rested Tessaiga on his shoulder as he stared up into the sky, where his brother had gone. He knew he was there because he could detect the youkai, but couldn't see him in the fog. Something was going on though, for the air became static and he felt the magnitude of youkai above rapidly increase. A burst of light erupted in the sky, blinding Inuyasha and the others. When it faded, they all stared at the gigantic dog that stood before them.</p>
<p>The dog was just as large as his father had been in his true form, and was pure white with shaggy fur. The only markings were a crescent moon on the forehead and two pink stripes on either side of its mouth, much like Sesshomaru had when he was disguised as a human. When the dog opened its mouth, poison dripped from its teeth, creating sizzling puddles on the ground below. Apparently, venom or poison ran in the family.</p>
<p>Gripping Tessaiga with his hands, Inuyasha took a few deep breaths to steady himself. Bigger target, easier to hit, right? He hoped it would only be that easy, but he had serious doubts. The dog raised its head and howled, and then immediately charged with impressive speed, much like his father. Inuyasha leapt forward, raising Tessaiga high before swinging it down, only to have it graze off of the dog's shoulder.</p>
<p>Inuyasha almost found himself being trampled when he hit the ground, nearly losing hold of his sword. For such a huge dog, it was quite agile, and dashed away only to twist around and charge at him again. They played this dance for a while, with Inuyasha hardly able to land a strike, and somehow managing to avoid getting hit himself.</p>
<p>Eventually Inuyasha misjudged his footing and found himself being kicked by a clawed foot, as Sesshomaru galloped around. Tessaiga was flung from his grasp in the process. The dog's eyes started to glow red, as he turned his gaze to the trio of humans that he had been ignoring for most of the fight. Perhaps a little snack was what he needed right now. He would start with the girl that shot at him earlier.</p>
<p>Back on his feet, Inuyasha saw the giant dog race in the direction of the others once again. "Godfucking damn it!" he snarled. Spotting Tessaiga about thirty feet away, he reclaimed his sword in a single bound, so fast that his feet had hardly touched the ground, before he was off to the rescue once again. The three of them were running away, scattering into different directions, and it seemed that the dog was targeting Kagome.</p>
<p>"I said stay away from her!" Inuyasha howled loudly. As the dog lowered its head towards the running girl, saliva dripping from its mouth, Inuyasha's blood ran cold. He was much too far away to make it to her side in time, but he wasn't helpless from here.</p>
<p>With Tessaiga drawn and ready to attack, Inuyasha suddenly noticed he could see the way the youkai was swirling around the giant dog. There was one particular spot where the currents of youkai seemed to meet, as it they formed a rift. Instinct kicked in and told him to aim there. And so he did, with his youkai flaring up to match his fury, Inuyasha swung Tessaiga down with all his might, aiming straight for the center of the rift.</p>
<p>Five rows of youkai radiated out from where Inuyasha stood, shaking the earth and leaving deep crevices in their wake. The youkai attack hit Sesshomaru side on, which sent the giant dog flying back, landing on his side a distance away. Inuyasha raced towards the fallen demon, noticing that huge gashes marred its side. The dog struggled to stand as he rapidly approached, turning its head towards him with a poisonous roar.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru managed to get to his feet as Inuyasha approached. The dog rose up, lifting one giant paw in effort to smash Inuyasha, who launched himself off of the ground, swinging Tessaiga down with a heavy blow. Horrible, guttural screams filled the air as Sesshomaru reeled backwards, while his left foreleg fell straight down.</p>
<p>Inuyasha landed on the ground with a heavy thud, Tessaiga in his hand, gasping for breath. He was almost shocked at himself and his own ability, for he hadn't quite intended to cut the entire fucking leg off, but he had. While it wouldn't kill his older brother, it was definitely enough to make him flee the battle. He watched as the dog struggled to run, escaping on three legs.</p>
<p>Stumbling a bit, Inuyasha hurried back to the others, sheathing Tessaiga just before Kagome slammed into him. She flung her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. "You did it! Oh my god, I was so afraid he was going to beat you, or worse!" she cried, although she was grinning a bit.</p>
<p>"Yeah, so was I," Inuyasha admitted, draping his uninjured arm around her shoulders. Now that the adrenaline from the fighting was starting to wear off, he was more acutely aware of the pain.</p>
<p>"That was quite impressive," Miroku gave him a small clap. "Kagome filled us in on who that was and the story behind the sword. We would have assisted you but realized this was your fight, and your fight alone. There would have been no honor to interfere in a battle between brothers over who should rightfully wield their ancestor's sword."</p>
<p>"You're strong, I'll give you that," Sango told him, looking impressed. "You didn't get too badly hurt, I take it?"</p>
<p>"There's this," Inuyasha admitted, holding his arm up to show off where the claws had dug into his flesh. It was still bleeding lightly, but there were dark red marks where the poison had spread.</p>
<p>Kagome had still been hugging him, but let go when he said that to take a look. She gasped and grabbed his hand and elbow, pulling his arm closer to inspect it. "Ouch. That looks painful. Inuyasha! Why didn't you show me sooner?"</p>
<p>"You kind of jumped me before I got the chance to," Inuyasha smirked down at her, planting a kiss on her forehead. She was already working on healing his injury. They moved on shortly after. Since Kagome had healed Kirara during the battle, she was back to her sabertooth form and carrying the monk and slayer once again. Although Kagome had offered to walk to allow Inuyasha to rest, he had insisted that he was fine to carry her on his back.</p>
<p>As they ran, Kagome noticed that Inuyasha was running a bit slower than usual, and seemed to be straining himself to keep up with the cat. "You sure you're ok?" she asked.</p>
<p>"I'm fine. Just a little tired and sore," Inuyasha told her. Now that the adrenaline high had worn off, he was starting to feel a bit fatigued, but he wanted to keep going and not hold them all up. As they continued on their way, he found himself lost in thought a bit. He wondered why he never knew about Sesshomaru growing up, and he also wondered what kind of relationship his older half-brother had with their father, here in this time.</p>
<p>After realizing just how much his brother hated him for being a hanyou, he couldn't help but wonder if his coming back here in time was going to ruin whatever relationship his brother and father had with each other. Now that Sesshomaru was aware of his existence, even if it was about five hundred years too soon. That bothered him, but he kept his thoughts to himself.</p>
<p>Eventually they came across some civilization. Miroku took the lead as they walked into the village, using his staff as a walking stick. The golden circles chimed and clinked prettily every time the staff thumped onto the ground. "We are going to rest here for the night and fill our bellies with delicious food," he informed them as he turned around, walking backwards for a few steps. "Just let me do all of the talking."</p>
<p>Sango shook her head at him, muttering something inaudible, while Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged curious glances at her reaction. For some reason she looked cross, rather than thrilled. They followed the monk, who slowly strolled the streets, nodding and pleasantly greeting anybody they passed. After walking the length of the village, he doubled back and led them to one of the bigger buildings towards the outskirts.</p>
<p>"This will do," Miroku declared, before giving Inuyasha and Kagome another look. "Just a reminder, let me do all of the talking." The monk turned and strode to the house, where he knocked urgently. A few moments later, a middle-aged woman opened the door. "Good afternoon, my lady," Miroku bowed politely. "I couldn't help but notice there is an evil presence residing in the walls of this home. I am a traveling monk and it is my duty to ward off evil spirits that plague families."</p>
<p>The older woman gave him a wondering look. "Evil presence?"</p>
<p>Miroku nodded solemnly. "Yes. Perhaps it has not yet made itself known to you, which is for the best. Removing evil spirits from dwellings is significantly easier than trying to remove them from the human body, once they decide they want a more mobile host. There is much energy radiating from right here, and it's only a matter of time. If you would allow me to, I would be happy to exorcise it for you. I ask for no payment in return, only for a bed to rest on and a hot meal, for myself and my traveling companions."</p>
<p>"You travel with all of them?" the woman asked, giving Inuyasha in particular a suspicious look, that they all noticed.</p>
<p>"Yes, each of them is of much use when it comes to ridding homes of evil spiritual activity. Now, I am feeling the presence here becoming agitated, for it is aware of myself and my intended purpose. For your safety, please stand aside and allow me to vanquish the spirit, before it tries to corrupt you and chase <em>me</em> out," Miroku told her with his gravest voice.</p>
<p>When the woman did as told and hurried to stand on the far side of the group from Inuyasha, behind Sango, Miroku pulled a stack of white papers from inside his robe and began plastering them to the exterior. He held his gloved hand up and began chanting as he applied the strips of paper, which had black symbols on them.</p>
<p>After placing them at even intervals around the entire exterior, Miroku raised his staff when he made full circle and began another chant, thumping the staff on the porch with a slow rhythm. Sango just stood by with arms crossed, while the others watched in confusion, keeping their mouths shut as ordered.</p>
<p>"This house has been cleansed," Miroku said sagely, as he turned to face them at last. "The spirit was rather resistant, but I managed to make it cross worlds. Now there is nothing to fear and you may go back inside."</p>
<p>"Thank you," the woman told him, rushing forward to grab his hand. "You are a good honest man, asking for no more than a bed and some food, however I can not let that be your only payment. When my husband comes home I will inform him of your good deed and he will reward you as such. Now follow me, I will show you to your sleeping arrangements."</p>
<p>They followed their host to a couple of small rooms at the back of the dwelling, where she showed them the baths and offered a room for the women and for the men before excusing herself, for she been in the middle of preparing dinner when they had arrived earlier. With a polite bow, she left them to make use of the facilities as need be.</p>
<p>As soon as she was out of earshot, Inuyasha gave Miroku a somewhat disgusted face. "What the fuck was that all about? I didn't sense any sort of evil presence at all."</p>
<p>"Yeah, neither did I. There was literally nothing there," Kagome chimed in. "That's why you told us to leave the talking to you, right? Because you knew the whole thing was for show, and you didn't want us to say so and foil your plan?"</p>
<p>"That is why I never ask for payment, aside from a bed and a meal," Miroku grinned widely. "However I'm not above accepting any other compensation that is so willingly given to me. If I demanded money for performing exorcisms when there isn't anything there, that would be pure dishonesty. The bed costs nothing to provide."</p>
<p>"You're still dishonest," Inuyasha grumbled. Kagome and Sango nodded in agreement. Miroku ran a hand through his hair and laughed nervously when he realized they were all in agreement against him.</p>
<p><em>A/N: Appreciate all the reviews! Also feel like I need to make the story summary sound a bit more interesting LOL…I've been struggling with that since Chapter 1. Feel free to add any suggestions to update that.</em> <em>And holy shit, this story is already so long...</em></p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Bad Timing</h2></a>
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  <em>Happy Holidays. Enjoy some citrusy action. </em>
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<p>Kagome sighed and stretched her legs out in the tub. It had been ages since she had taken a hot bath, and she was going to enjoy every single moment of it, making it last as long as she possibly could. After eating dinner, Sango and Miroku had decided to go about the town for some information gathering, as he called it. Sango had rolled her eyes and said she was going to tag along as an escort and make sure he didn’t get into too much trouble. So Inuyasha and Kagome had decided to bathe in the meantime, that way their companions could use the baths once they returned, whenever that would be.</p>
<p>Closing her eyes, Kagome replayed the events from today in her mind. Despite the battle between brothers being a bit terrifying to watch, it has also been amazing at the same time. Never would she have imagined Inuyasha possessing such incredible power. His brother terrified her, and at times she thought Inuyasha was going to be seriously injured, but to her immense relief he never let up, instead continuing to rage into battle at full force. He had gotten injured though, but fortunately it was only his wrist, and it had been easy for her to heal.</p>
<p>Even though he had successfully beaten his far strong older brother, she couldn’t help but worry about the what-ifs. Did the fact that they came back in time mean that for sure, they defeated Naraku in the end? Or what if they came back here only to die before accomplishing their goal, thus changing the future world? That could happen too, right? What if they defeated him and never made it back to their modern world? What if she never saw her family and friends again? What if they were to die here before defeating Naraku?</p>
<p>“Damn it, I need to stop thinking about that,” Kagome mumbled to herself. She sunk further down into the tub, all the way up to her chin. After laying there for a moment, she then pushed herself up to scoot towards the middle of the tub so that she could lean back and get her hair wet. The hot water on her scalp felt so good, and it was wonderful to be able to wash it with soap once again. After her hair was clean, she wrung it out and tied it into an updo to let it dry that way, while she scooted back to lean against the edge of the tub and soak some more.</p>
<p>This time she found herself thinking about Inuyasha, but not of him fighting for his life and honor. She thought about the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention, how wild he looked when his hair blew around like crazy when he was racing around, the sexy fanged grins he always gave her, more and more frequently, and the way his eyes always shone at her like molten gold. He exuded such power and strength, but he also had an adorable soft side that she was thrilled to finally get to see and know.</p>
<p>Kagome realized just how bad she wanted him. Well, she already had him in a way, but she wanted all of him. It made her wonder just how hard it had been for him to pine after her all those years, since he had always pushed her away. If only he hadn’t been so afraid of dooming her like everybody else he cared about. That thought was silly, and she had later told him so, and he admitted his regret. </p>
<p>While it would hurt far more to lose somebody you were emotionally involved with, that was a risk they both knew they were going to have to take. Kagome realized that she wanted badly to experience every aspect of an adult relationship with him, since they were definitely old enough. Even though they had a dangerous road ahead of them here, she felt she would regret it more if they never got the chance to actually be with each other. </p>
<p>Now, she wasn’t about to run out there and jump him right this very second, but she decided that she felt comfortable pushing boundaries, and just letting their relationship progress. Biting her lip, she spread her legs and reached down to slip her fingers inside of herself, imagining what it would be like to have him touch her that way.</p>
<p>Inuyasha had retreated to their room after taking a bath, since he didn’t feel like trying to sneak about somewhere by himself. His head had hurt a little after the intense battle earlier today, so just being able to sit around in the quiet little room was actually quite ideal. It was too early to try and sleep, so he found a spot on the floor to sit with his back leaning against the wall.</p>
<p>The sound of footsteps made Inuyasha open his eyes, for he knew it was Kagome coming to join him. A small grin immediately formed on his face as he saw her come in and close the door, eyes widening a bit when he realized just how little she was wearing after her bath. Donned in nothing but a thin light tan kosode he was able to see every curve of her body as the lamp behind her illuminated the fabric, making it a bit see-through. Her hair was tied up at the back of her head, with damp tendrils hanging loose.</p>
<p>“You look lonely. Care for some company?” Kagome teased. She tried not to blush when she saw the way he was staring at her right now. Padding softly to his side on bare feet, she almost sat next to him, but instead decided last minute to sit on his lap instead, facing him.</p>
<p>“Only if you’re the sole company,” Inuyasha replied, sucking his breath in when she straddled his lap. She was still damp from her bath, her hair dripping slightly onto the collar of her kimono. Nostrils flaring ever so slightly, he took in her clean, fresh scent. Reaching for the nape of her neck, he rested his clawed fingers on her skin, tickling her slightly.</p>
<p>“Only me,” Kagome grinned, leaning close to kiss his lips. He responded eagerly, cradling the back of her head while his other arm snaked behind her back. When he parted his lips, she slipped her tongue in, gliding across his before feeling the brush of his fangs. She shivered, for his unique features excited her.</p>
<p>“I’m so glad they were willing to let us share a room,” Inuyasha told her when they parted to catch their breath. Kagome grinned back, getting lost in the bright gold of his eyes for a moment. She resisted slightly when he tried to pull her back down, instead putting her hands to his chest.</p>
<p>“I just want to see more of you,” she smiled a bit shyly, as she started to pull the sides of his fire rat kimono apart. Although a little surprised, Inuyasha eagerly slid his arms from his robe and undergarment, leaving his chest bare. He groaned a bit as Kagome leaned close, kissing and nibbling his lip while she started running her hands along his chest. </p>
<p>Inuyasha found it hot how she was taking control, so he let her do what she wanted. His head fell back against the wall as she started to kiss his jawline, down to the side of his neck. It was an instant turn on, and her scent told him that she was quite aroused herself, making him groan with agony. Just in case she wasn’t quite ready to feel him twitch and harden against her, he bent his knees, effectively lifting her up off of him a bit.</p>
<p>Undeterred, Kagome kissed the other side of his neck, her blunt teeth causing his breathing to go ragged when she nibbled him a bit. Her hands were wandering a bit, running up and down his chest and across his nipples, blunt nails scraping his skin. It was almost more than he could take, so Inuyasha found himself gently pushing her off of him. “You didn’t like that?” she asked, eyebrow knit as she looked uncertain.</p>
<p>“Huh? No everything was fucking amazing,” Inuyasha breathed. “Just…gotta give me a minute. Besides, I want to touch too.” He paused with his hands on her ribs, giving her a moment to tell him no if she wasn’t comfortable with the idea.</p>
<p>Kagome felt instant goosebumps pop up all over her body when he gave her a devious grin and moved his hands up to cup her breasts. Their eyes met for a moment, before his flicked down to her chest, as he started rubbing his thumbs across her nipples. The slightly rough fabric of her kimono made her nipples feel like they were being scratched lightly as his thumbs rubbed over them. He teased her for a bit, glancing up with a mischievous look as he reached for the hem of her kimono.</p>
<p>“If you get to see my chest, I get to see yours,” Inuyasha grinned slyly up at her through his silver bangs.</p>
<p>“Go ahead,” Kagome whispered, her breath hitching in her throat when Inuyasha pulled her kimono apart, leaving it bunched around her waist where the obi still held it shut. She slipped her arms from the sleeves as the cloth fell, feeling a bit shy as she straddled him, her entire torso bare for him to see.</p>
<p>“You’re beautiful,” Inuyasha murmured, his hands reaching for her breasts as if they had a mind of their own. He had glanced up at her but found it impossible to maintain eye contact once she willingly revealed her upper half to him. She was perfect, he thought, for her breasts were full and perky and just the right size to be the ideal handful. <em>His</em> handful, he thought with a smirk, as he cupped and stroked her gently.</p>
<p>Kagome blushed at the compliment and leaned back down, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him again. His hands continued playing with her breasts, claws tickling their tender flesh as he teased her nipples, pinching and rolling them between his fingers. Raking her fingers across the back of his neck, she felt him shudder and nip her lip hard, making her moan into his mouth.</p>
<p>Inuyasha shuddered again when Kagome decided to grind her hips down into him, when he began kissing the side of her neck. He was a bit hard already, and the rocking of her hips was only making him harder. “Oh fuck,” he mumbled into her neck, when her hands went to the top of his head, and she began to massage and scratch the base of his ears. He sucked her neck hard in response, pulling on her nipples just a bit as his fingers toyed with them, making her moan a bit. </p>
<p>“Oh my god,” Kagome breathed, as his lips started nibbling her collarbone. She could definitely feel his arousal now, whenever she shifted her hips back, for all that was between them was the fabric of his hakama, and most likely not that of her kimono, as it was all hiked up around her upper thighs, and she wore nothing else. His knees bent some more, pushing against her bottom and making her rise up. Her head fell back slightly as he kissed down the tops of her breasts, shuddering as she could feel a puff of his hot breath hit her nipple when he exhaled and opened his mouth to use his tongue on it.</p>
<p>“Inuyasha! We need your—oh, shit. Sorry! We are so sorry!” Miroku shouted, as he burst into the room, literally straight out of fucking nowhere. Kagome immediately shrieked and crossed her arms tight over her chest to shield herself from his eyes.</p>
<p>“What the <em>fuck</em> do you think you’re doing, barging in here like that?” Inuyasha snarled at the intrusion. “<em>Get the fuck out of here right now!</em>” </p>
<p>Wisely, Miroku turned around, putting his hand up to stop Sango from stepping forward and accidentally getting the same eyeful that he had just gotten, however he didn’t leave. “I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t an emergency. You two need to put your clothes back on and come with us. Something very weird and wrong is happening in this village right now and we need you with us. We’ll be waiting outside your door.”</p>
<p>As Miroku shut the door firmly behind him, Inuyasha stared at Kagome with eyes half closed in irritation before letting his head fall back to thump against the wall repeatedly. “I’m going to fucking kill him, you know that? Talk about completely killing the mood. So much for giving us some privacy. You would think the goddamn pervert would have known better.”</p>
<p>Kagome giggled at his complaining and pulled her kimono back on. In all honestly she was rather annoyed at the interruption herself. “You’ll get another chance to kiss my boobs, I promise.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Inuyasha flashed her a smirk. They stood and finished getting dressed, grabbing their weapons as well before heading out of their room. “This better be as important as you make it out to be, interrupting us at a time like that.” he griped at the monk.</p>
<p>“I can assure you it is,” Miroku said. “Follow me. We’ll hurry up and get this over with so you two can finish having sex later.”</p>
<p>“I’ll smack him for you later,” Sango gave them an apologetic look at they hurried after him. “It is really urgent though. Something is going on with the villagers here, and we don’t know exactly what it is. You’ll know what I mean as soon as you see them.”</p>
<p>Kagome gave Inuyasha a nervous look at they picked up the pace, since Miroku had started to jog. He came to a quick stop when he reached the end of the row of houses, near the center of the village. The monk turned to them and put his finger to his lips, making sure they knew to be quiet. </p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Inuyasha whispered coarsely, as he stared at the town center. All of the villagers had gathered here, and were standing in circles around a fruit tree of some sort, one ring outside the other, shoulder to shoulder.</p>
<p>Kagome reached for his hand to intertwine her fingers with his. “This is creepy,” she whispered. The way everybody was just standing, as if they were statues themselves, not blinking or talking or doing anything, was very unnerving. Her boyfriend squeezed his fingers around hers as he nodded in agreement.</p>
<p>“Do you know what kind of youkai is making them do that?” Sango asked. She had Hiraikotsu in hand, ready to use it at a moment’s notice. </p>
<p>Miroku shook his head. “No. I can sense the presence but it’s not very strong. Inuyasha?”</p>
<p>“No idea,” he frowned, shooting them a sidelong glance. “We, uh, aren’t exactly from around here. There’s a lot more youkai here than where we are from, so I’m just not familiar with a lot of them.” </p>
<p>“They all have a bit of youkai in them,” Kagome said softly. “I wonder why we couldn’t detect it in anybody earlier? Maybe it’s dormant during the day and comes out at night?”</p>
<p>“Possibly,” Miroku mused. “The villagers are clearly human, but no youkai was detected from them earlier, which indicates that they aren’t the source of the youkai. Most likely they are just hosts. I would assume the youkai is kind of like a parasite, most likely they all have the same thing inside of them. How about this…” He shuffled a hand under his robe and produced a thick stack of sutras.</p>
<p>“Each of us will take a stack. Well, except for you, Inuyasha. You have youkai blood so you aren’t going to want to touch these,” Miroku started. Dividing the stack into three, he handed two of them out. “Unlike the fake ones I was using earlier today, these are the real deal. Place the sutra on a possessed human, just slap it on like I did to the house earlier, and it should drive out the demonic parasite. Once that parasite leaves the human host, we kill it. Now, I’m not too sure of your battle expertise, Kagome,” Miroku gave her a questioning look.</p>
<p>“I don’t really have any,” Kagome admitted. “I’m still learning to use the bow, and I don’t really trust myself to not shoot anybody on accident.”</p>
<p>“So we work together,” Inuyasha told her. “You stick the sutras on them and I’ll take care of the rest. I’d still keep your bow in hand though. Maybe you can channel your power through it and strike out if need be.”</p>
<p>Kagome flipped through the sutras he had given her. It sounded simple enough, and she trusted her boyfriend to keep her safe. The three of them spread out and quickly began to adhere the sutras to the villagers. Within seconds after being slapped with a sutra, each villager started to choke, bending over and heaving for a moment, before vomiting up what appeared to be a large bright red worm. The humans passed out as they expelled the parasites, resulting in a growing pile of bodies.</p>
<p>“This is fucking awful,” Kagome cringed, her stomach rolling a bit as she narrowly avoided having vomit splashed all over her feet. As if the vomit wasn’t bad enough, the worms were terrible, their large rounded bodies inching all over the ground in every direction. Why did it always have to be some sort of bug?</p>
<p>Inuyasha was easily keeping pace, using his golden claw attack quite readily now, each time a parasite got vomited up. Even he had to admit it was really gross, for they were trampling through a field of vomit and bug guts now. “Yeah, I might have to take two baths in less than a day,” he grumbled.</p>
<p>“Ugh,” Kagome groaned, as she danced away from more projectile vomit.</p>
<p>“Reminds me a bit of when I was taking care of you,” Inuyasha teased her, claws flexed and ready to strike at the bug that was to follow.</p>
<p>Kagome gave him a grimace at the reminder. “Was I really this bad?” He laughed and shook his head. They had made quite a bit of progress, having taken care of most of the people in the outer ring. For whatever reason the others that still had the parasites inside didn’t react much, so they took a moment to drag the villagers away to make room for the next wave to collapse.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, things didn’t go as smoothly as they began. Suddenly the remaining villagers began to convulse a bit, before they began to vomit on their own, which meant that there would be a lot of bugs released all at once. There was no point in using the sutras now, so Kagome grabbed her bow with her right hand, and tried to focus on letting her power flow into it. Dozens of worms started scattering about acting more aggressively than the ones they had previously killed. </p>
<p>“Goddamn it!” Inuyasha growled, as he killed five with one swipe of his claws. Kagome was just in front of him and managed to hit a couple with the end of her bow, instantly purifying them to nothing. With so many swarming around them, it was hard to keep both an eye on her and on all of them. He kept close on her heels, killing the majority of them. </p>
<p>“Inuyasha!” Kagome yelped, as she found herself tripping over a foot that was sticking out from under the body of one of the unconscious villagers. She found herself about to faceplant on the ground, just as three worms scurried straight towards her.</p>
<p>In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha leapt over her and sent a claw attack right at them, completely obliterating all three before turning midair to send another attack to a couple that were rushing up behind her. Since he only needed one hand to attack, he reached down and pulled her up with his free hand, while attacking yet another round that were leaping through the air towards them.</p>
<p>“We’ve almost got them all!” Miroku yelled loudly from the other side of the tree. “This would have gone a lot faster if I could have just used my damn wind tunnel! But I can’t suck up all these innocent people.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha’s ears were the first to detect a much larger youkai approaching, as he heard a very loud buzzing noise. “Giant flying bug creature, coming in from above!” he called out to warn the others. The body of the bug was similar to the worms, so most likely they had been fighting just the larval form so far. This must be the parent. “Kagome, stay close!”</p>
<p>“That thing has a jewel shard in its head!” Kagome exclaimed, as she looked up sharply. While she had a hard time making out the shape of the flying insect, she could easily detect the distinct purple glow of the shard.</p>
<p>“It’s shooting at us!” Sango screamed, as she threw up Hiraikotsu to ward off a barbed stinger, that imbedded itself into her boomerang. If not for her weapon, it would have hit her in the chest.</p>
<p>“Fuck!” Inuyasha swore, as he grabbed Kagome and leapt out of sight with her, as the hornet was turned to face Miroku at that moment. “Stay here and see if you can shoot it, but only when it’s not facing you. Got it?” </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Kagome gulped and nodded. She had been dropped off behind a market stall where there was a vast array of fruits. It was close to the center of the action and right in front of an overhang, so she wasn’t that visible from directly above.</p>
<p>“Good,” Inuyasha gave her a rough kiss before dashing back to the giant bug. Pulling Tessaiga out, the sword transformed immediately, but before he could try to swing it, he found himself using it as a shield against a projectile stinger. </p>
<p>The hornet took flight, erratically buzzing about over their heads, which made it extremely difficult to hit. Every time Hiraikotsu flew past, or Inuyasha attempted to use his new sword technique, which he dubbed the Wind Scar, the damn hornet just rolled to the side or zoomed upwards. It was like trying to hit a fucking fighter jet.</p>
<p>Safe from the line of fire, Kagome notched her arrow and aimed carefully. She doubted she would ever get the chance to try and shoot it, since the damn thing was switching directions every half a second. Most of the time she couldn’t even see it anyway, due to her more limited scope of vision. It was crazy how fast it was for its size. It seemed like a hopeless cause, but she kept her arrow aimed, for it was best to remain prepared.</p>
<p>Inuyasha leapt towards the hornet, swinging Tessaiga at it, only to chop a thick limb off of the tree when the hornet ducked and rolled out of range. Miroku had tried to suck it into his wind tunnel, but the hornet had responded by shooting poisonous stingers at him, which caused a ton of pain as they entered his hand, to the point he was doubled over for a few moments. Sango had just as much difficulty, for the hornet had no problem dodging her big heavy boomerang.</p>
<p>Kagome gritted her teeth, holding her bow at the ready, wishing there was opportunity to fire at it. She knew the others had scarcely been able to land a hit on it, and wished that she could do something more than hide behind the stall. Inuyasha had told her to hide and only shoot it when its back was to her, but that was never going to happen at this rate.</p>
<p>There had to be something else she could do. Suddenly an idea popped into her head, and she lowered her bow. Luckily she had grabbed her knapsack as well without thinking when they had rushed out of their room earlier. “There it is,” she muttered, as her fingers closed around the smooth, jagged shape. “Now how am I going to do this?”</p>
<p>After frantically searching herself and the bow, she decided that it would be easiest just to grip it between her fingers of the hand that held her bow. She wasn’t going to be able to attract its attention and then get into position and try to aim. This was probably a terrible idea, but it was the only one she had, and their strategy clearly wasn’t working.</p>
<p>Since she hadn’t been able to communicate her plan to Inuyasha, and knew he would strongly disapprove, she waited until he was leaping high in the air, for that would give her the most amount of time before he could interfere. “Hey!” she screamed, holding her bow steadily and strongly, but keeping her powers contained. The jewel shard in her hand glinted from the lights of the nearby lamps.</p>
<p>A shrill scream filled the air, as the hornet whirled around to face her, and immediately noticed the shard. “If you want it, you have to come get it!” she screamed. The hornet did just that, honing in on the shard and zooming towards her at top speed.</p>
<p>Kagome sneered at it and released all of her power into the arrow, making both the projectile and the bow glow brightly. With the hornet flying straight at her, it made for an easy target. And so she released the glowing arrow, shooting it straight into the center of the hornet’s head.</p>
<p>Covering her face with her arms, Kagome squealed loudly as the bug exploded, and bits of gooey exoskeleton rained down on her.</p>
<p>“Kagome!” Inuyasha yelled, as he raced towards her. His heart had leapt into his throat when he heard her scream while standing out in the open with the bow. Then when the hornet made a beeline for her, he felt sheer terror. She was ok though. She was ok. His girlfriend was standing, bow still in her hand, arms covering her face, and she was completely drenched in bug guts.</p>
<p>“Inuyasha?” Kagome cried out, her voice wavering. “I need another bath.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we all do,” Inuyasha grimaced, as he made his way to her side. Initially he had been pissed that she had jumped out there and risked her life, but his irritation quickly faded and was replaced by pride. When she peered up at him, a look of utter disgust on her face, as a glob of slime dripped down her temple, he suddenly found it very hard to keep a straight face. “I’m sorry, babe, but I almost wish I could take a picture of you right now. You are the biggest mess I have ever seen in my life.”</p>
<p>“Wow, I”m impressed!” Sango exclaimed, as she marched through the guts, seemingly unfazed. “You took that hornet out with a single shot! Good job!”</p>
<p>“Amazing job, Kagome!” Miroku hollered, as he ran up to join them. “That was very impressive.”</p>
<p>“Thanks, guys,” Kagome grimaced and shuddered. It took all of her willpower to not think about what was coating her right now. She was just in a slime pit like they used to air on Nickelodeon when she was a kid, right? Right?! Right. Peering around, she looked for the glow of the jewel shard, and detected it about ten feet away. Making a very grossed out face, she stuck her hand into some goo and pulled it out, making a pained noise the entire time. “I need another bath like right now.”</p>
<p>“You are probably going to need some help scrubbing all of that out,” Sango grimaced. “Let’s go get you cleaned up before it starts to harden.” Grabbing the pale girl by the elbow, gingerly, she started to lead her back towards the house they were given permission to stay at.</p>
<p>That left Miroku and Inuyasha standing amongst the goo. “Well, the villagers appear to be sleeping now that they threw up all those bugs. Given the sheer number of them and not knowing who lives where, I say we just leave them and let them wake,” Miroku suggested. “Then tomorrow we can discuss the night’s events with dear Kisa, who so grandly rented her home to us for free. Perhaps the other villagers will show their gratitude once they learn what unfolded down here.”</p>
<p>“You’re such a swindler,” Inuyasha smirked and rolled his eyes.</p>
<p>“Ah, no, my friend, I simply enjoy the profits that I receive after an honest day’s work,” Miroku retorted, a little too proudly. </p>
<p>Inuyasha just gave him a look. “I’m pretty sure with you it’s usually dishonest, but ok. At least this makes up for your little trickery from earlier.”</p>
<p>“It all works out in the end, so there is no harm in what I do. I’m glad you are starting to understand that. Now, let me see if the ladies need a hand in the baths.”</p>
<p>Just as he was about to walk off, Inuyasha’s hand shot forward and grabbed the back of his collar. “Oh <em>hell</em> no. Don’t even think about it.”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Sick Puppy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>“Well, I’m glad we got that disaster taken care of,” Sango wiped her hands. Cleaning up the chunks of giant wasp had not been very fun at all, but it had to be done, for they couldn’t just leave it and expect the villagers to clean it up. They had made the mess, or well Kagome had, technically, so it was their responsibility.  </p>
<p>The villagers had remained passed out or asleep until morning, beginning to awaken around dawn, which resulted in mass confusion. Apparently they had no idea what had happened, as none of them remembered a thing. Miroku took it upon himself to calm everybody down, explaining what had happened the night before, as he was by far the smoothest talker and had a natural knack for dealing with people.</p>
<p>“I’m still grossed out,” Kagome sighed. She felt a bit squeamish as she had been shoveling demonic hornet guts, but had managed to get through the task without actually getting sick. It just took some pretending that she was merely participating in some kind of slimefest on tv. “Are you sure you washed all of it out of my hair, Sango?”</p>
<p>“Pretty sure,” Sango grinned at her.</p>
<p>Miroku sidled close to Sango and draped an arm around her shoulder. “You know, it’s kind of hard to see my own head when I wash my hair. Do you think I could employ your special bathing services?” His eyebrows waggled suggestively at the word special.</p>
<p>“Ugh,” Sango groaned, rolling her eyes and shrugging out from under his arm. “You are the biggest pervert I know. Wash your own damn hair.”</p>
<p>“You wound me,” Miroku sighed, before straightening up. “Anyways, I was chatting with the various townsfolk, trying to see if I could get an idea of how this infestation began in the first place. I noticed last night that they were all circling around this tree. The odds of it just being randomly chosen like that, since everybody was acting like they weren’t in control of their own bodies, was rather slim. Turns out this tree here started producing these strange fruits about a couple of months ago. It had never produced any before, despite having been in the village for as long as anybody could remember. Some children started to eat the fruit, and found it delicious, so before long, everybody had sampled it. They said it was strangely addicting, the more they consumed, the more they wanted it.”</p>
<p>“So the tree is to blame?” Inuyasha raised a brow, before glancing up into the branches. He frowned a bit, for he noticed a dark shape high up towards the canopy. Launching off of the ground, he grabbed a branch and clawed his way up to go check it out. “Looks like the hornet made some kind of next in this tree!” he called down to the others. “It’s empty though, and only big enough for the one we killed, so at least we don’t need to worry about more of them showing up. Think you can just suck the nest into your wind tunnel if I throw it into the air?”</p>
<p>Miroku grinned and reached for the beads on his right hand. “I like the way you think. If the hornet lived in the tree, it probably found someway to pollenate the flowers to produce fruit and lay its eggs in that fruit. The babies probably needed larger sources of nutrients, which ended up coming in the form of human beings. Anyways, enough contemplating, let’s get rid of that nest just to remove all traces of the giant hornet.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha tore the nest from the branch, where it was stuck on rather well, and flung it high up in an arc. Miroku raised his hand and uncovered his palm, once the nest was straight above him, where there was no risk of sucking anything or anybody else in with it. “Alright,” he said, covering his hand back up once the nest entered the void in it. “Since we didn’t have much luck gathering information last night, as we noticed all the strange behavior starting, and focused on investigating that instead, I’m going to get back to the original plan.”</p>
<p>“I’d go with you, but I was thinking,” Sango bit her lip and turned to Kagome. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I would feel a lot better about this whole thing if I knew you had at least some kind of experience in hand to hand combat. Just in case you end up in a situation where Inuyasha can’t jump to your defense and protect you, or you can’t use your bow. Or if it’s a human and you can’t just use your powers to purify them. I think it would be a really good idea for you to learn some basic fighting moves and how to defend yourself up close. If you don’t mind, I’d love to teach you a thing or two.”</p>
<p>Kagome gave her a smile. “No offense taken, and I agree. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not much of a fighter at all, and I don’t have Inuyasha’s natural strength to make up for lack of experience. Feeling helpless sucks and I’m easily the weakest one here. I worry about being a burden, so if you’re willing to teach me, that would be wonderful.”</p>
<p>“On second thought, I think I might observe the ladies as they fight and tumble about,” Miroku said eagerly. </p>
<p>Inuyasha rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the collar. “You need to worry about getting information on Naraku or the jewel shards or anything that might be of use to us. I’m coming with you in case you need a better set of ears. Let’s go.” He pushed the monk forward, before turning to flash a grin at Kagome. “Have fun learning to kick some ass.” </p>
<p>He was glad that Sango had offered to teach her, for the demon slayer was quite the fighter. In actuality he had thought about trying to teach Kagome somehow, but was afraid he would end up hurting her on accident, and just couldn’t bear that idea. Sango was a much better match for a sparring partner, for the girls were pretty close in terms of size, and she didn’t have claws or his demonic strength.</p>
<p>“Do you think they will still be fighting by the time we finish?” Miroku asked thoughtfully, as he and Inuyasha made their way towards the inn.</p>
<p>“Who knows. But I do know we won’t ever get and retain any important information if you can’t focus on the task at hand,” Inuyasha pointed out. It was amusing how much like Mark their monk companion actually was, personality wise. If only they could meet, as well as Sango and Sonya, it would make for one very interesting gathering.</p>
<p>With the men gone, Sango led the way to an open field behind the last row of huts, where the land wasn’t being used for either crops or livestock. She had never personally trained somebody in this manner before, but figured she could come with some sort of lesson. “This will do. So. No weapons, or any fancy moves, we are just going to practice the very basics.”</p>
<p>Kagome listened intently as Sango went over the best areas of the body to aim for, if she was to try and fend off a human attacker. She also showed how to strike those areas from a variety of positions, demonstrating on Kagome first and then letting her have some practice. It was fun, but also a bit tiring for Kagome. She did well enough for her first lesson, and only suffered from some minor scrapes and bruises.</p>
<p>Deciding that it would be best to give the girl a break, Sango turned to her with a grin. “Do you want to ride Kirara?”</p>
<p>“Me?” Kagome squeaked, her eyes going wide with surprise. “Would she let me?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Sango declared. “She will let anybody on her back that I allow. Kirara, come and show Kagome how you can fly!”</p>
<p>“I’m riding her all the way up there?” Kagome blinked. “What if I somehow fall?”</p>
<p>Sango laughed. “She’s very easy to ride, trust me. I wouldn’t let you get on her back if there was any danger. Just hold on tight with your knees and you can grip her mane with your hands. Why are you so nervous anyway? You ride around on Inuyasha’s back and he leaps around like crazy!”</p>
<p>“He also holds my legs when he does that,” Kagome told her with a slight blush. “It was a little scary at first, but now I’m used to riding on his back. I never worry about falling because I trust him to always keep me safe.”</p>
<p>“Kirara will keep you safe as well, I promise,” Sango told her, with a small smile. She still found it so curious how a human, especially one with spiritual powers of some sort, and a hanyou had developed such a romantic relationship. It was literally unheard of, for hanyou were shunned at best here, and the native miko were supposed to be pure. She knew they weren’t from around here though, but just didn’t know exactly where from. “Kirara?”</p>
<p>The little kitten trotted over to them, having previously been very busy chasing a butterfly. Letting out a tiny roar, she started to transform to her bigger fiery self. “She’s all yours,” Sango sang, as she scratched Kirara on the top of her head, before leaning in to whisper in the cat’s ear. “Show her that cats are way more fun to ride than dogs.”</p>
<p>Kagome burst out laughing at that as she started to climb onto Kirara’s back, grabbing her mane while throwing a leg over. “We’ll see about that.” Once she was seated and hanging on, she nudged the cat with her knees. Immediately Kirara broke into a quick trot, before transitioning to a gallop, and moments later, they were airborne.</p>
<p>Leaning close to stay balanced on her back, Kagome gripped the thick mane with both hands, as the cat started to bank to the right in order to turn. They had gotten so high so fast, and while it was a bit terrifying to look straight down, she couldn’t help but try to peek every few seconds. A huge grin was on her face as they soared high and wide, the wind whipping her hair back as they sped over the village.</p>
<p>“That was amazing!” Kagome squealed upon Kirara’s landing back on solid ground. She dropped forward to hug the cat around her neck, which elicited a low rumbling purr from the two-tailed feline, before sliding off of her back.</p>
<p>“Told you!” Sango said proudly. “Now, back to business. So, if somebody manages to grab you like this…”</p>
<p>Later that afternoon, they regrouped at the home they were staying in, shortly before dinner was to be served. “I see why you feel the need to tag along and keep him in line,” Inuyasha grumbled, his arms folded in his sleeves. While it hadn’t been too horrible hanging out with the monk, he found his lecherous ways to be a bit tiring.</p>
<p>Sango’s eyes narrowed. “What did he do this time?” Her tone suddenly a bit chilled.</p>
<p>“I didn’t do anything!” Miroku exclaimed. “Not intentionally, at least. We did find a few leads though, and that’s what counts. Right?”</p>
<p>“What did he do this time?” Sango repeated, giving Inuyasha a pointed look.</p>
<p>Inuyasha sighed and rubbed his temple. “He asked some girl to bear his children, not realizing her husband was right next to her, which resulted in a near fist-fight. Fortunately for Miroku the girl’s husband had a broken arm in a sling, and could only attempt to hit him with one hand. While Miroku may have managed to escape without a scratch, the same can’t be said for some of the goods that were on the counter there. So he paid for the damaged goods out of the money we earned here.”</p>
<p>Sango closed her eyes, breathing in deeply through her teeth. “I’m going to kill him one of these days.”</p>
<p>“May that day be in many decades from now,” Miroku laughed nervously. He couldn’t help but think how beautiful Sango looked when she was raging over his antics. “We have more than enough money left over, so that’s not an issue. Now, about those leads we picked up, as that’s the most important part. There is a large monster fish in Ashinoto lake just north of here. Apparently the fishermen who used to frequent the lake can no longer even go to the water’s edge, for fear of being eaten. Also there is a dark priestess in the forests southwest of here, who has been rumored to have been collecting shards herself. Any votes on where to go first? The fish is much closer, and more of an immediate threat, so I say we head there first.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha fidgeted, but nobody noticed. “When will we, ah, leave? Tomorrow, right?”</p>
<p>“Yes, we shall enjoy one more night of comfort before hitting the road,” Miroku nodded, much to Inuyasha’s relief. “It would be a good idea to stock up on supplies before we head out, mainly essentials and anything practical that may be of use. We have plenty of money remaining after our, uh, incident earlier, and we can always get more, so if we need to spend all of it that is no worry.”</p>
<p>“You mean you can always perform more fake exorcisms?” Kagome snorted.</p>
<p>Their host invited them to come enjoy one last hearty supper, for food was plentiful. Taking advantage of the free meal, they all ate their fill, while chatting and laughing. Inuyasha was rather quiet though, and hurriedly consumed his food before unfolding his legs to stand up. “I’m not feeling well at all. Think I need to just call it a day a little early and go rest up so I’m ready to go tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“Ok. You do look a little pale,” Sango frowned, as she glanced up at the tall hanyou. He gave her a curt nod and strode off to the room he had been given.</p>
<p>Kagome was still eating and a bit surprised by her boyfriend’s sudden departure. She had detected his mood was slightly off ever since they had met back up, but had figured he was just irritated over the incident with Miroku. Feeling a bit worried, she started to eat quickly. “I better join him and make sure he’s ok. We’ll just meet up in the morning I guess.”</p>
<p>“Sounds good. I guess it will be best if you go heal him if need be, and we’ll stay away so we don’t catch whatever he has, if he is sick.. Say, Sango, what do you say to a little stroll to the hill just outside of the village? It would be good to stretch our legs and get some exercise after such a big meal,” Miroku suggested.</p>
<p>While the others made plans to go for a sunset stroll, Kagome hurried through the house towards the room they had been given. When she slid open the door to the room she had shared with Inuyasha last night, she gasped a bit when she saw him curled up on the futon they had shared last night, facing away from her. Hurrying to his side, she dropped down and put a hand to his shoulder. “Inuyasha, are you ok?”</p>
<p>Inuyasha just grimaced, and brought his knees closer to his chest, as he lay in the fetal position. Instead of answering her, he just groaned painfully. </p>
<p>Kagome shook his shoulder a bit, eyes wide with worry. “Inuyasha, what’s wrong? Is it your stomach? Did you eat something? Talk to me so I can figure out how to help you!”</p>
<p>“Yes. Ooowwww,” Inuyasha groaned, gripping his arms across his stomach as he remained curled up. “Hurts so bad.”</p>
<p>“What do I do? Was it something you ate from dinner? You didn’t find a strange fruit here and eat it on accident, did you? I thought we took care of that problem. How does it hurt exactly?” Kagome was trying not to freak out, but her panic was evident in her voice.</p>
<p>Unable to hold it back any longer, Inuyasha’s shoulders began to shake, and he turned his head to the floor to try and hide his grin. “Why are you shaking? Inuyasha!” Kagome tried to roll him onto his back by grabbing his shoulder, but he wouldn’t budge. “Inuyasha, damn it! Wait…are you laughing?”</p>
<p>“Not at all!” Inuyasha chuckled, as he turned his head to grin up at her pretty face, which was currently sporting a nice scowl.</p>
<p>Kagome slapped his shoulder hard and gave him a furious look. “You liar! Making me worry about you! Why I ought to…”</p>
<p>Inuyasha pushed himself up, noticing the door to the room was open, so he leapt up to close it quickly and returned to drop down on the ground in front of his girlfriend. He had shut it just in time too, for there were footsteps coming closer, and he felt his youkai start to pulse, signaling his change was about to begin. “You ought to what?” he smirked at her.</p>
<p>“Strangle you or something,” Kagome growled at him. Crossing her arms, she huffed and turned around so that her back was to him. She had been so worried and it was all over a prank. “Why the hell did you do that anyway? Pretend to be sick at dinner, when clearly you aren’t, and run off like that? I was worried. If you had just wanted to be alone, you could have said so and I wouldn’t have bothered you.”</p>
<p>Crawling closer to his fuming girlfriend, Inuyasha knelt behind her and tentatively looped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. He honestly felt bad about pranking her now. “I’m sorry baby, I didn’t mean to make you mad. I was just messing with you.” She was stiff in his arms, not returning his affection,, but at least she wasn’t outright rejecting it. “I didn’t leave because I wanted to be alone, it was just necessary.” Kagome remained as still and stoic as a statue in his arms. He sighed, for he hated seeing her angry at him. “I’ll make it up to you, ok? I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>Kagome bit her lip hard, keeping her face turned away from him. Inuyasha sighed and closed his eyes, but then snapped them open a moment later. “Are you laughing?” he asked her suspiciously, when she shook a little. In his arms, Kagome started cracking up. “You’re not actually made at me and you don’t hate me after all, do you?” He grinned, as she giggled and shook her head. “Damn it, bitch, you fooled me.”</p>
<p>“I’m not sorry!” Kagome laughed. “And no, I’m not mad anymore. You’re a good actor and you totally had me fooled. I just wanted you to apologize, since it’s not something you tend to do. I’m impressed. I got not one, but two apologies out of you.” Relaxing at last, she leaned back against his chest and placed her hands over his. They were much bigger than hers, and stronger. She traced her fingertips along his knuckles, then along his digits to feel his claws. Oh wait, where were his claws?</p>
<p>Eyes wide, Kagome twisted around in his embrace, to see her boyfriend now had jet black hair and mossy green eyes. “Oh. Ohhhh,” she blinked and then grinned. “So this is why you left dinner so abruptly.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha nodded at her. “Yeah. The others seem nice and all, but we just don’t know them that well yet. I’m not comfortable having them see me like this just yet, or them even knowing that tonight’s the night.”</p>
<p>Kagome tilted her head and studied his face. It was still taking some time getting used to her boyfriend’s transformation. His green brown eyes gazed back at her steadily. “The night? I was wondering how that worked, exactly, since you didn’t exactly elaborate the first time I saw you in your human form. It’s not just a random occurrence is it?”</p>
<p>“No,” Inuyasha shook his head at her. “I’m always human on the night of the new moon. Sunset to sunrise. It’s different for every hanyou though, the day or night that they turn human.”</p>
<p>“Oh, interesting,” Kagome blinked at him. “Well, at least you’ll always know when it’s going to happen so you can plan to be somewhere safe.”</p>
<p>Inuyasha swallowed and nodded, his expression slightly grim. “Yeah, it doesn’t change. Which is also why I don’t want them to know. The less people that know about my human night, the better. There’s too much danger here, and if word somehow spreads, since Miroku does have a really big fucking mouth, the wrong people might learn when I’m vulnerable.”</p>
<p>“Makes perfect sense,” Kagome nodded quietly. “I won’t ever tell them, or anybody, I promise.”</p>
<p>“I know you won’t,” Inuyasha gave her a small grin. “I trust you fully. Only you.”</p>
<p>Kagome blushed and reached up to drape her arms around his shoulders, slipping them under his jet black locks. “I’m honored to have all of your trust. You should have told me earlier though. Could have avoided giving me a near heart attack because I was really worried about you. But now I guess that just means you have to make it up to me.”</p>
<p>“I know, I should have, but it didn’t cross my mind that the new moon was tonight until you were out with Sango already,” Inuyasha admitted. “And then I didn’t get the chance to talk to you alone once we met up. I’ll make it up to you though, somehow. However you want me to,” he gave her a sly grin.</p>
<p>“Hm,” Kagome glanced up at the ceiling, pretending to think, before suddenly shoving Inuyasha flat on his back, using her weight for added momentum. “Looks like I got you again,” she teased, as she pinned him on his back with her hands on his shoulders.</p>
<p>“It’s sexy when you’re dominant, and I can see that you’ve learned some tips from Sango, but,” Inuyasha smirked, as he expertly flipped them over before she had the chance to react. “you’re still no match for me even if I am human.”</p>
<p>Kagome grinned at him and struggled to break free, but it was to no avail. He was much bigger and stronger than she ever would be, so she was at his mercy. Despite that, he was quite gentle with her, even when wrestling together. “Doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying,” she teased. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve already knocked you flat on your ass once this evening.”</p>
<p>“Don’t get too cocky now,” Inuyasha teased her back. “That was just luck.”</p>
<p>“We’ll see,” Kagome playfully stuck her tongue out. “So, are you going to pin me down all night like this or are you going to go lay down and rest like the sick puppy you claimed to be? The walls are kind of thin here, so if we keep wrestling, somebody’s going to hear us and wonder what’s going on. Might barge in again.”</p>
<p>“Then I guess we need to be quiet,” Inuyasha flashed her a sly grin. Grabbing her wrists, he pinned them above her head with one hand, while reaching down to undo the obi on her kimono and open it up. She had her shorts on, and a red lacy bra. He had seen it before when it had been hanging to dry with the laundry, but it looked a thousand times better on her body.</p>
<p>Running his hand up the side of her ribs, he moved to her breast, squeezing lightly through the fabric. The fabric was rather thick on it, and he couldn’t feel her nipple through it, so he tugged at the strap. “Take this off for me baby. I want to finish where we left off last night.”</p>
<p>“This time nobody better come barging in here to bother us,” Kagome grinned. Inuyasha released her wrists, so she arched her back and slipped a hand behind her, undoing the clasp with expertise. She watched her boyfriend’s face as he sat back, straddling her lower half, his eyes glued to her perky nipples. Lust shone in his green eyes as he glanced back up at her, then back down her body.</p>
<p>Inuyasha scooted down a bit so that he was straddling Kagome’s upper thighs. On all fours, he just gazed down at her body. There were lamps in the room that provided some light. It wasn’t exactly bright in here, but still enough for him to see her rather well. “You’re beautiful.” He moved his hand to the inside of her hip, before gliding up her ribs to play with a breast. His thumb caressed her nipple for a moment before he glided his palm over it, and then further down, as he explored all of her body that was currently exposed to him. Without his claws there to get in the way, his blunt fingertips traced little patterns all over her belly, making her squirm cutely.</p>
<p>“I’m a little ticklish,” Kagome burst into giggles, biting her lip and turning her head to the side, as her lower half instinctively bucked a bit.</p>
<p>“Only a little?” Inuyasha waggled his eyebrows at her as he scooted to her knees so that he could lean down and plant little kisses on her bare skin and tease her with his tongue. He thought it was adorable how she squirmed as his mouth and fingers tickled her. When she coughed out another laugh, he sat up and smirked at her. “Remember, gotta be quiet since I’m soooo sick in here. Hopefully we didn’t make anybody concerned with the sound of us wrestling earlier.”</p>
<p>“Then you need to stop tickling me damn it!” Kagome huffed, lifting her head to give him a fake glare.</p>
<p>“Fine. I’ll just tickle you another day,” Inuyasha grinned wickedly. He was enjoying finding out new knowledge about her body.</p>
<p>Kagome just lowered her head and groaned at him. She was going to have to find out what his weaknesses were. It was only fair, especially since he was already back to tickling her. “You’re a liar, you know that?” she giggled quietly.</p>
<p>“Nah, just playing around,” Inuyasha laughed quietly. “But really though, probably best to stop talking and laughing before someone hears us.”</p>
<p>“We definitely don’t need that again. Why don’t you show me what you can do with your mouth that doesn’t involve talking?” Kagome shot him a flirtatious look. </p>
<p>“Don’t have to ask me twice,” he stated, as he stuck his tongue out at her playfully before he leaned down, planting a trail of kisses up the center of her torso to her right breast. Scooting forward on his knees, he gazed down at her before lowering his head, trailing his tongue around the edge of her nipple before taking it into his mouth and sucking gently.</p>
<p>Kagome’s eyes fell shut and she groaned, arching her back slightly as Inuyasha licked and sucked her nipple. It surprised her how good it felt, and she watched through half lidded eyes when he pulled away slightly, before trailing his lips across to her left side, where he gave her other nipple the same treatment. “Ahhh,” she groaned, her back arching again when he started to nibble on her, while using his other hand to tease her right nipple, which was slick with saliva.</p>
<p>Inuyasha grinned, his blunt teeth latched on to her nipple, as he grazed her tender flesh, making her moan a little louder. She tasted so good, and her breasts were fucking perfect. Alternating back and forth between which one got his hand and which one got his mouth, he found his loins tighten a bit, as his listened to every quiet gasp and moan.</p>
<p>Lifting his knees, Inuyasha rotated his lower half so he was no longer straddling his girlfriend, so that he was more to her side, before leaning back down to suck her nipple hard. Kagome let her head loll to the side as she watched him, finding the sight of him with his nipple in her mouth to be quite erotic. She had to closer her eyes again and stifle a moan when she felt his other hand glide across her belly, his palm flat, as he let his hand slide from one hip to the other. Everything he was doing was such a turn-on and she couldn’t help but whimper.</p>
<p>Kagome shuddered a bit when his hands massaged her a little harder, his teeth tugging on a nipple. “God yessss,” she moaned, trying to be as quiet as possible. She whined when he blew air over her hard, wet nipple, and turned her head to glance at him in confusion when he propped himself up on an elbow to gaze down at her.</p>
<p>Inuyasha bit his lip as he gazed down at his girlfriend’s flushed face. He didn’t need much light to tell how much of an effect he had on her. His hand on the inside of her hip drifted further south, so he was playing with the ties at the waist of her shorts. “I want to touch you so bad right now. I want to make you feel good. If you’re ok with that, obviously. Unless you think it’s too much too soon?”</p>
<p>Quietly, Kagome just gazed up at him for a moment before replying. “It might be a little fast and all, but…” Reaching down, she untied the bow on her shorts to loosen them, before grabbing her boyfriend’s hand and placing it just above the waistband. “Go for it,” she whispered.</p>
<p>Inuyasha propped his head on his hand, holding himself up as he gazed down at her face, watching her reaction as his hand slid further down. His fingers curled as they made contact with her folds, which were already somewhat slick and wet. As he parted her slightly and slipped a finger in, he watched as her mouth fell open and her eyes closed, a look of bliss on her face as he began experimenting different ways of stroking her.</p>
<p>Although he was nervous, he feigned confidence as he touched her, for he didn’t want to make it that obvious that he was completely inexperienced in the art of pleasuring a woman. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know what he was supposed to do; it was simply the issue of actually doing it and hoping he was doing a good enough job. Fortunately she seemed to enjoy the feel of his fingers, based on the small sounds she was making and the wetness coating his fingers.</p>
<p>Taking advantage of not having any claws, he curled his fingers deep inside of her, noting the way her breathing changed and her moans became more intense, as he focused on stroking a small bump he felt, along her inner walls.</p>
<p>“Not too loud, babe,” Inuyasha let out a quiet snicker, as she started writhing a bit, her moans becoming more feverish. He briefly glanced up to look at the doorway. The hallway had lanterns in it, but it didn’t appear that there were any silhouettes from people standing or passing by, at least for right now.</p>
<p>“I’m trying to be quiet, but it feels too damn good!” Kagome gasped out quietly. She turned her head to gaze up at him, disappointed that his features were mainly hidden by the shadows.</p>
<p>“So I’m not too bad at this, eh?” Inuyasha flashed her a cheeky grin. He leaned down and covered her mouth with his, kissing her deeply to muffle her moans, as his fingers continued to thrust in and out of her, honing in on that particular spot now and then. Eventually though, his hand stilled, as a bang in the next room over startled them. Low voices travelled through the thin walls, as the inhabitants settled in next door.</p>
<p>Reluctantly, Inuyasha withdrew his hand and pushed himself upright, wiping his fingers on his kimono, since it seemed to clean itself. “Damn it. We really better stop for the night. It’s getting late and I don’t wanna bring attention to us in here. Don’t need anybody hearing us and rushing in to see what the horrible hanyou is doing to the poor defenseless human girl.”</p>
<p>Kagome frowned, for she knew that the general attitude of people here had been getting to him. Reaching up, she caressed the side of his face gently. “He did nothing that she didn’t want him to do, so it makes zero difference what anybody else thinks about us being together, if they were ever to find out. The only thing I would be concerned about is them learning that you’re human tonight. But I agree. It’s late and we really should get some rest. You should, ah, maybe cover your head with the sheet just in case somebody walks in here while we’re asleep and sees you like that. And yes, you are going to get some sleep because I said so,” she added firmly, recalling his stubbornness the previous month.</p>
<p>“As you insist, my lady,” Inuyasha playfully rolled his eyes at her, but nonetheless grabbed the sheet to hide under.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Gone Fishin'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Will you <em>stop</em> grabbing my ass!" Sango screeched, as she grabbed her boomerang and whacked it on Miroku's head with every word. The poor girl had been dealing with the cursed hand incessantly. While he had learned his lesson in regards to Kagome being hands off, quite literally, he had been going after her more than usual.</p>
<p>"If I don't grab it, who will?" Miroku wiggled an eyebrow at the enraged demon slayer. He couldn't help it, that skin tight outfit of hers was absolutely calling to his hand.</p>
<p>"<em>Nobody</em> will! And that's kind of the point!" Sango huffed. "I swear, the older you get, the more of a senseless fool you become!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha snorted. "Probably because you're killing off all of his brain cells every time you whack him with that boomerang. I'm surprised he's still capable of walking and talking at this point."</p>
<p>Kagome tilted her head up to look at her boyfriend, upside down. He was sitting on the ground with his back against a tree stump and she was sitting in front of him, between his legs, leaning back against his chest. "Who do you think will end up killing him first? Sango or Naraku?"</p>
<p>"My money's on the girl," Inuyasha smirked down at her. He tightened his grip a bit, as his arms were looped around Kagome's ribs. It was nice just getting to hold her whenever he got the chance, since their days were full of traveling and tending to basic needs.</p>
<p>"Because the girl is deadly," Sango declared, sitting straight and tilting her head up in a cocky manner. The four of them were sitting around the campfire, having finished eating dinner a little while ago. It was a warm late spring or early summer evening, but the fire was cozy, so they kept it going after the food was cooked.</p>
<p>Once night fell, Kirara transformed to her larger self and Sango curled up next to her tails, using them for pillows and a blanket. Inuyasha lay down on his side, while Kagome lay in his embrace, facing him. He used a claw to gently sweep her bangs away from her eyes so he could look at her. At his touch, she smiled at him, and then slipped her hand between their bodies, working the front panels of his kimono apart. Right now they were using his billowing sleeves for cover.</p>
<p>Kagome peered up at him coyly as she slid her hand over his chest, tracing her fingers around his pec before grabbing his nipple. Just to mess with him, she tugged on it, making him snort at her. "Fun, isn't it?" he asked.</p>
<p>She just grinned up at him, playing with him for a moment before pulling her hand away reluctantly. They couldn't do anything right now, since they were in rather close quarters with their friends. "Yeah. Can't help myself. You've been doing almost all of the touching and licking, so I thought it was only fair for me to at least cop a feel," she whispered quietly.</p>
<p>Inuyasha grinned and lowered his mouth to her ear, his golden eyes gazing up at the flames and the other three of their party, who weren't paying much attention to them right now. He dared to reach up and give her a light, playful squeeze. "Yeah, well…all the touching was great but there's still more of you that I'm just dying to lick. We might have to start sneaking away from camp in the middle of the night if we don't get to another home or inn soon where we can luck out and get a room to ourselves again."</p>
<p>"Sounds like a great idea to me," Kagome told him, shivering slightly at the idea. Pushing up, she kissed his lips before nudging him onto his back so she could drop her head to rest on his torso. "I want you."</p>
<p>"Same," Inuyasha swallowed hard. Closing his eyes, he breathed deep, forcing himself to rid his mind of any naughty thoughts, for it wasn't going to happen tonight.</p>
<p>They reached the village a day and a half later. It was a decent sized fishing village located on the large Lake Ashinoto, nestled between two large mountain ranges. It was a bit of an overcast day today, but not rainy, and not foggy. After speaking to a few of the villagers, they learned that three fisherman had been killed by the monster fish, before they decided that it was far too dangerous to keep attempting to go to the water. At least they did have some select livestock and farmland, for additional sources of food, but fish was their prime source of nourishment.</p>
<p>"So how are we going to lure this fish out? Obviously we can't have one of us walk to the edge of the water and act like bait," Sango said thoughtfully. They were all staring down at the lake from the top of a small hill. Just looking at the picturesque scenery, you would never have thought it was home to a monster catfish.</p>
<p>No, but fish are not very bright, and it's most likely just a low level demon that managed to pick up a shard. We could try and bait it to come out, much like how Kagome baited the hornet to fly right at her," Miroku suggested.</p>
<p>"You're not using Kagome as bait every time," Inuyasha growled.</p>
<p>"No, I never said anything about using her as bait, my friend," Miroku said wisely. "Whoever carries the bait needs to be able to escape in the blink of an eye. I was thinking that perhaps I can lure the fish out into the open, if I ride Kirara and hold the jewel shards we have while she flies around. Since she is fast, and we will have a bird's eye view, we can see the fish when it's coming towards us and get ready to flee."</p>
<p>"You're going to hold the jewel shards?" Sango snorted. "You'll just end up corrupting them with your lecherous mind. I'll hold them." That made Inuyasha and Kagome laugh quietly.</p>
<p>Miroku gave her a wounded look. "Hold them and wield Hiraikotsu? You'll have your hands full with that. It's much better if I hold them, since I don't have a giant weapon to try and hold and throw. Besides, my intentions are always pure, so the shards will be fine. Anyways, what do you think of my plan?"</p>
<p>Sango regarded him for a moment and then sighed. "I can't think of anything better. Might as well just go with that and give it a try. Let's go get this over with."</p>
<p>Inuyasha scooped Kagome up in his arms bridal style as soon as she passed the shards to Miroku, making her squeak with surprise, and quickly leapt up to a thick tree branch. He leapt from branch to branch for a moment before deciding which one gave her a close, mostly unobstructed view of the lake. "This should be good. We'll try and keep the fish lured on this end, so fire away when you get the chance In case it leaps out too far from the edge of the shore. Even though I can jump pretty high, I can't fight in the middle of a huge lake."</p>
<p>"Alright. I'll do my best. Be careful," Kagome gave his bicep a squeeze, before he nodded and leapt back down to the ground.</p>
<p>Inuyasha joined the other three on the ground, unsheathing Tessaiga to prop it over his shoulder. "Let's go fishing. See if we can get the fish to leap out on this end, since Kagome's right there." He pointed to the tree he left her in and they nodded.</p>
<p>"Got it. Get your sword ready. Miroku, don't you dare drop those shards or you'll be diving in with the catfish to get them," Sango warned.</p>
<p>"Don't worry, my dear slayer, they are safe with me," Miroku declared. Sango rolled her eyes and urged Kirara to take flight. The cat roared and leapt into the air, spiraling high above the lake, while the two humans on her back scanned the water's surface. It was a good thing that it was overcast today, for the lack of sun meant they didn't have to deal with bright white reflections bouncing off of the water's surface and blinding them.</p>
<p>After several minutes of circling, Sango pointed to their right. "There, see that?"</p>
<p>"Oh, shit, that thing is massive," Miroku's eyes widened. Holding the shards firmly in his fist, he held his arm out, while the giant cat veered down towards the long dark shape that was making its way through the water. Its back crested the surface, three very tall, spiny dorsal fins sticking up down its spine.</p>
<p>From shore, Inuyasha was able to see the fish as it surfaced, and gripped Tessaiga, willing it to transform as he thought about protecting the others, especially his girlfriend. Within seconds, his sword grew. "We're starting to get an understanding, huh Tessaiga," he mumbled, then shook his head when he realized he was talking to a sword.</p>
<p>Beneath Kirara, the giant catfish was circling, staying near the surface of the water. Sango urged her to fly lower, fists gripping the mane in preparation for any sudden acceleration. Behind her, Miroku was hanging on with an arm around her waist, but she gritted her teeth for she was going to have to let it slide given the circumstance.</p>
<p>Suddenly the fish breached, turning as it leapt to get a look at the flying cat. Seizing the opportunity, Inuyasha swung Tessaiga, hoping to pull the same move that he had discovered when fighting his brother. Unfortunately, he didn't have much luck. Kagome's arrow also missed, a pink streak as it hit the water.</p>
<p>They lured the fish to leap a few more times, but didn't land a hit. Sango and Miroku peered down nervously when they realized they couldn't see the fish any longer. The lake must be quite deep, which wasn't that surprising, given its vast size. "Hang on!" Sango yelled, when Kirara suddenly dove to the left, narrowly evading a stream of water that shot out from below them.</p>
<p>"Of course it spits," Inuyasha growled in frustration from the shore. There was only so much he could do from here, for he couldn't fly nor walk on water. "Try to get it to come this way!" he yelled loudly.</p>
<p>The others did their best to lure the catfish closer to shore, dodging the various water bullets that shot up at them. It wanted the shards, and followed them as they headed to Inuyasha. As the water got more shallow, the catfish started leaping out of the water again, unable to dive deep and keep its long body vertical in order to spit straight up.</p>
<p>When Inuyasha swung Tessaiga again, this time releasing his attack, he watched it tear through the water, before fizzing out once it hit the catfish. "Are you <em>fucking</em> kidding me?" he cursed. "Sango, try to keep the fish over here! Wind Scar didn't work so I'm going to see if I can just stab it!"</p>
<p>He waited for the fish to circle back closer to shore, and once its back had broken the surface of the lake, he bent his knees and lurched high, aiming to land on its back and chop its head off. Things didn't go as planned, and the second his feet hit the catfish's back, he found himself skidding completely off of the side of it, as it bucked when he tried to land. The damn fish was covered in some kind of thick slime, making its body extremely slippery. Inuyasha found himself flung into the water, completely submerged, as the fish swirled around him.</p>
<p>"INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed helplessly, as she watched her boyfriend go under. She was about to panic, because he was right in the middle of the body of the fish, as it circled the area he was dunked into. Raising her bow again, she gritted her teeth and prepared another arrow. None of hers had hit the fish yet, as she was having to crouch down a bit awkwardly in order to get a good view of it through the branches and leaves. Unfortunately it hadn't stayed in the area that she had the best view of.</p>
<p>In the water, Inuyasha kicked and clawed his way to the surface, Tessaiga still in hand. No way was he going to drop the damn sword in here, as difficult as it was to swim with a six foot blade. Splashing like mad to keep his head above the water, he glanced around with wide eyes, for there were dorsal fins all around. There was no way he was going to make it to shore from here, so his only option was to try and get on to the fish and attack it that way.</p>
<p>Just as he was about to start paddling to its side, white hot pain struck his leg, and he found himself being yanked underwater. It all happened so fast that he didn't have the chance to take a lungful of air and hold his breath. Choking a bit, he did his best to keep his mouth and nose shut as the fish dragged him down. The youkai catfish had his leg in its mouth, which was the source of the pain. A cloud of blood darkened the water around his leg, the pain radiating up through his entire body as the fish started to shake its head.</p>
<p>Inuyasha instantly started to panic, for he knew that he was going to have his damn leg ripped off if he didn't either break free or hang on. While his youkai blood allowed for rapid healing and recovery, and a higher pain tolerance than a human, he wasn't going to be able to regenerate a lost limb. Having to make a decision between hanging onto Tessaiga or keeping his leg, he chose his leg. Clawing wildly through the water, both hands now free, he managed to grab onto a tentacle, but just barely. The tapered appendage was very slimy and hard to hold on to, but it bought him enough time to grab onto the edge of its jaw with his other hand and brace himself to its body.</p>
<p>Now that he had a hold on the fish, he was no longer in danger of having his leg ripped off. However he was quickly running out of air. Using all of his strength, he tried to pry the mouth open, which was a little difficult without having any sort of leverage. The fish opened its mouth briefly, but it wasn't enough for him to get his leg out completely, and felt it chomp down once again. There was so much blood in the water, and the scent of it started making the fish thrash in a frenzy.</p>
<p>Just as Inuyasha was on the verge of passing out, the fish suddenly let go of his leg completely. His mind went hazy as he started to sink, before his eyes snapped wide open and he desperately kicked his way to the surface. He sputtered and choked once his head was above water, his vision a little red and hazy now, but he could make out the others luring the fish away. Fighting to clear his lungs and fill them with oxygen again, he dove deep once he recovered just enough to go back under.</p>
<p>Tessaiga was laying at the bottom of the lake, barely visible in the murky water, but he could sense the pulse calling to him. Inuyasha dove as hard and fast as possible, grabbing the handle with a clawed hand before kicking hard off of the muddy and rocky bottom, propelling himself back to the surface with incredible speed. With his sword back in his hand, he paddled as fast as possible to the nearest part of shore. Now his vision was clear, and he could see Kagome up in the tree he had left her.</p>
<p>She was screaming something at him, but he couldn't make it out with all the commotion and the water filling his ears. As soon as he was on dry land, he raced along the shore, towards where the fish had been lured into shallow water once again. Hiraikotsu bounced off of the fish's bony back, seemingly ineffective. Flipping Tessaiga in his hand, Inuyasha hunched and barreled down the shore, determined not to make the same mistake again.</p>
<p>With a snarl, Inuyasha leapt high in the air, straight for the fish, this time he had Tessaiga aimed straight down. As he landed, he thrust his sword deep into the skull, the razor sharp tip easily penetrating the slimy protective layer. Using his weight for additional force, he drove the sword in deep, effectively killing the fish as its skull cracked wide open.</p>
<p>Kagome watched the battle end from her tree, feeling immense relief when her boyfriend shattered the skull, but immediately started to panic when she saw him limp out of the water and collapse onto the shore. Kirara flew down and Miroku jumped off, before the big cat quickly flew to the tree she was in. "What happened?" she cried, as she grabbed onto Sango's hand to aid her as she mounted the cat.</p>
<p>"His leg. Looks like he was bit pretty badly," Sango told her. "Hang on!"</p>
<p>Within seconds, Kirara had landed a few feet from Inuyasha. Her paws had barely hit the ground when Kagome slid from her back, rushing to her injured boyfriend's side. "Let me see!" she barked out, adrenaline rushing through her as she got into down to business mode. "Shit," she cursed, as she saw the size of the pool of blood darkening the sand beneath his leg.</p>
<p>Inuyasha was gasping for breath, his face pale, as the adrenaline from the battle frenzy started to wear off, and he became acutely aware of the pain. Tessaiga was still in his hand, and he found himself gripping the sword's handle so hard that his claws were digging into his palm.</p>
<p>"The pants need to come off," Kagome decided, as she reached for the hakama ties. Inuyasha was looking a bit dazed, but he helped claw the knot out of them, and was able to scoot out and kick them off so that he was down to his modern day boxers. She gasped when she saw the deep gashes covering his leg from his upper thigh to his lower calf. Apparently the fish had some long sharp teeth, and a lot of them. With the amount of blood lost, she was certain that the artery had been nicked, most likely in more than one place.</p>
<p>"Is there anything we can do?" Sango asked worriedly, as she peered down at the girl, whose hands were glowing pink as she rested them on either side of his thigh.</p>
<p>"Don't think so. Three shards in its head, if you can please go dig them out. Right in the center between the eyes, in a straight line going from nose towards back," Kagome murmured, as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, letting the warmth of her power expand out from her heart. There was so much blood loss, made worse from his racing about with the injury, for his blood had been pumping extra hard from the exertion. As she meditated and healed, she was vaguely aware of his breathing start to level out and become less ragged.</p>
<p>"Alright, I managed to get them. Miroku, can you please see if you can rinse the blood out of his hakama," Sango decided, upon her return. She felt like it was the least they could do, since Kagome was taking care of the wounds.</p>
<p>A weakened Inuyasha found himself wanting to recline, so he leaned back onto his elbows, while his girlfriend continued working her magic on his leg. He would heal soon enough on his own, but it was far better to have her speed up the process significantly. As he dropped down, he felt something nudge his shoulder. Cracking open an eye, he saw two large red eyes blinking at him.</p>
<p>Kirara nudged his shoulder again and then lay down behind him, allowing him to lean against her side. "Thanks," he mumbled, receiving a purr in return.</p>
<p>"You scared me half to death, you know that?" Kagome scolded her boyfriend, once she had healed him to the point the wounds were almost closed. Between her healing powers and his youkai blood, it hadn't taken too long. However between shooting so many sacred arrows and healing him, she was a bit fatigued from using so much of her energy.</p>
<p>"Sorry," Inuyasha gave her a sheepish grin. He had his arms folded behind his head as he lounged against Kirara, just watching her as she healed his lower leg. It was late in the day now, the sky starting to turn a golden color.</p>
<p>Kagome huffed in fake annoyance and dropped her hands to her legs. "I'm just glad you're ok now. You lost a lot of blood. That much would probably have killed a normal human. Anyways. Did anybody else see the red glowing thing underneath the water?" She glanced around at the other's faces. Inuyasha shook his head, for he had been focused on the damn fish the entire battle.</p>
<p>"I did see something red, when Inuyasha released the Kaze no Kizu," Sango affirmed. "Couldn't get a good look, since it was far down and we were moving fast, but something was definitely glowing from under the water."</p>
<p>"Glowing from under the water isn't normal," Miroku frowned. "Demonic most likely. We should check it out."</p>
<p>"By we, don't you mean me?" Inuyasha raised a brow. "If it's that deep, most likely you guys can't get to it fast enough."</p>
<p>"Babe, you just finished recovering!" Kagome sighed and looked up at her tall, lanky boyfriend, as he got to his feet and grabbed his hakama, which had already started to mend themselves, where the teeth had ripped holes into them.</p>
<p>"Yeah, it means I'm good to go," Inuyasha flashed her a fanged grin. "Nothing to worry about now that we killed the fish. You got the jewel shards, I hope?"</p>
<p>"Yes, I got them while Kagome was busy healing you. Here they are," Sango produced the three shards and passed them to Kagome. They glowed as her fingers closed around them, and she put them with the others they had previously collected.</p>
<p>Inuyasha trudged out into the water, in the directions that Kagome and Sango had pointed, which didn't exactly match up. They were able to tell him the vague general area, so he dove down when he swam out a ways, his keen eyes scanning the bottom of the lake. With the sun setting, it was hard to make out much of anything, but on his fourth dive he spotted something glowing red out of the corner of his eye.</p>
<p>Back on shore, Kagome scanned the surface of the lake, trying to keep an eye out for her boyfriend. With the setting sun, the angled rays of the sun made the surface of the water shimmer gold and white, so he blended in quite a bit. It wasn't until he was walking out of the water did she spot him.</p>
<p>"What is that?" Sango asked curiously, as the inuyoukai headed their way. He was clutching a glowing round red orb to his chest, his claw barely touching as he held it with both hands.</p>
<p>Instead of answering her, or even showing any signs of noticing them, Inuyasha just continued walking slowly forward. Kagome gulped when she saw his face, which had a bit of a nasty snarl to it. Something was definitely wrong. His eyes were fixated down on the orb, and were tinged with red, frightening her a little. "Inuyasha?" she asked, her voice quavering slightly.</p>
<p>"Hey, Inuyasha, what's going on?" Miroku reached to grab his arm, leaping backwards in a panic when Inuyasha snarled at him.</p>
<p>"It's that orb, isn't it?" Sango gasped, her voice a panic. "Shit. We shouldn't have had him go after it!"</p>
<p>"It's not like we knew it would affect him that way!" Miroku exclaimed.</p>
<p>Kagome's heart clenched as her boyfriend's eyes continued to redden, his snarls getting louder. Not sure what else to do, she launched herself forward and swiftly yanked the orb out of his hands. "Ahh!" Kagome shrieked, tears welling at the corner of her eyes, for it felt like she had grabbed a red hot iron. Immediately she dropped the orb and dropped to her knees, shakily turning her hands to inspect her palms.</p>
<p>"Kagome!" Inuyasha's eyes widened. The instant the orb left his hands and he heard her scream, he had snapped out of the trance. His nose picked up the scent of tears as he dropped down in front of her. "Let me see!"</p>
<p>"I got burned by it," Kagome sniffed, as clawed hands gently grasped her wrists. Her hands felt like they were on fire, but at least her boyfriend was back to normal. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind inwards, drawing the power out once again.</p>
<p>As Inuyasha held her wrists, he felt her power surge up, and a pink glow started too envelop her hands. It was fainter than it usually was, and he guiltily berated himself for he knew she had used a lot of her energy on him. He could feel her tremble a bit as she healed herself rather slowly, so he held her wrists, rubbing his thumbs in circles on her skin, his head bowed low.</p>
<p>"Whatever that thing is, it is clearly not anything we can leave laying around," Miroku said quietly. "It possessed Inuyasha and burned Kagome pretty badly, so I don't think any of us are going to be able to safely pick it up and move it."</p>
<p>"I'll destroy it," Inuyasha declared. Waiting until his girlfriend's hands were back to normal, he then jumped to his feet and grabbed Tessaiga. "Stand back. Who knows what the hell will happen when I swing at this thing."</p>
<p>Once the others were at a safe distance, Inuyasha unsheathed his sword and lifted it high above his head. Tessaiga pulsed a bit, just before he swung it down as hard as possible, hitting the orb dead center. It cracked in half, red vapor released as it shattered, enveloping his sword. He stared at the sword in alarm, watching the steel blade turn red from one end to the other, before fading to its regular steel hue once again.</p>
<p>"Did it possess your blade?" Kagome asked worriedly. She rushed to his side as he sheathed the sword.</p>
<p>Inuyasha glanced up at her and gave her a quick smile. "No, I don't think so. If anything, Tessaiga seemed…happy? It's weird and I can't really explain it, but the sword kind of has feelings."</p>
<p>"What?" Kagome blinked and burst out laughing. She covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but a sword has feelings?"</p>
<p>"I know, it's weird," Inuyasha smirked. "But yeah, I can sense the sword at times. It's not like it talks or anything, but it likes to pulse now and then."</p>
<p>"Interesting," Kagome nodded with an amused smile.</p>
<p>"So," Miroku began, glancing around at everybody. "Dare I say we head on back to the village to collect our reward and see where we can sleep tonight? I'm sure they will be most grateful."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Control</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I wish this rain would let up," Inuyasha grumbled, as he raced through the mud. He was starting to wish that they had a second cat, one that he and Kagome could ride, for the lucky feline next to him was able to avoid the mud as she flew. Right now his feet were encased in mud and his hakama were brown up to mid shin.</p>
<p>"Me too. I hope we can find somewhere dry to sleep tonight," Kagome sighed. It had been steadily raining all day long, and it didn't look like clear skies were anywhere in sight. She was chilly and soaked and miserable.</p>
<p>Inuyasha leapt to avoid a fallen tree across the path. They were racing through a meadow right now, en route to seek out the dark priestess that had amassed a collection of shards. The only reason they were currently traveling was because there was nowhere suitable to hang out and ride out the storm. He shook his head as he ran, trying to shake the water from his ears, for it was tickling the inside of them as the droplets ran down.</p>
<p>Kagome just buried her face into his thick hair, when she got tired of the raindrops smacking her in the face. The humid heat from his body was keeping her front warm enough, but her back and limbs were chilled from the wind and rain. Finding a dry place to rest and suitable firewood was most likely too much to hope for.</p>
<p>Sometime late afternoon, most likely, they spotted a shack in the woods and made a beeline for it. As they approached it, it was clear that the shack was abandoned, for it didn't even have a door. However the roof was mostly intact, and the majority of the inside was dry. They needed a break from the rain after traveling in it all day, so the four of them plus a now kitten settled in. It was only one room and quite small, but it was better than nothing.</p>
<p>They waited out the storm, which didn't end until morning, and made decent progress the next day, as it was cloudy, but didn't rain until late afternoon. Unfortunately they didn't have any shelter this night, so they were forced to make do. Kirara sheltered both Sango and Miroku, the demon slayer insisting he sleep on the opposite side of her cat, despite his protests. Inuyasha leapt up into a tree with Kagome, to find a secure place to sit and hold her in his arms so she could sleep on him. The thick canopy provided better shelter than on the ground. Using his sleeves for added protection from the rain, she managed to doze off, but it wasn't that restful, since it was rather awkward trying to cuddle on a narrow tree branch.</p>
<p>It took another couple of days of dealing with shitty weather before they made it to the area the dark priestess was rumored to inhabit. Miroku had gotten some information on how to find her, while chatting with a couple of men over some sake. The path was overgrown and very hard to follow, but it led them deep into the dark woods. A couple of hours later, they weren't quite sure if they were even going the right way. To avoid rushing and losing track of the trail and where they were, they all walked.</p>
<p>"Ow!" Kagome exclaimed, hopping on one foot, when she felt a sudden sharp pinch on her ankle. "Something bit me!" She reached down to rub the offending area but noticed there was no blood. Inuyasha leaned down to check out her ankle, confused because he couldn't see anything wrong with her skin.</p>
<p>"What bit you?" Sango hurried to her friend's side. "Are you ok?"</p>
<p>"I feel fine," Kagome shrugged, as they all searched the ground nearby. Her leg didn't hurt and she didn't feel funny. "Probably a bug? Or maybe I got poked with a thorn?" she wondered, pointing to some spiny plants nearby.</p>
<p>"Hm, maybe," Inuyasha muttered, giving the area another look, but not seeing anything that could have bitten her. "Let's keep moving."</p>
<p>"We have to be going the right way. See, there's the brook," Sango pointed to the bubbling stream that cascaded down mossy covered rocks. Following the stream, they continued on, delving deeper into the woods. The air suddenly began to chill, causing Kagome to grab Inuyasha's hand, while the other two got their weapons ready.</p>
<p>"Well, well, if this isn't an interesting bunch," a cool female voice spoke. The owner of the voice stepped out from behind a massive tree, revealing herself. She was young, maybe a few years older than they were, but she had long, white hair, despite being human. "A youkai cat, a demon slayer, an unholy monk, a <em>hanyou</em>, and a priestess, of sorts…hm…" Her gaze settled on Kagome the longest, her lips pursed with puzzlement.</p>
<p>"What does she mean, <em>unholy</em>?" Miroku asked faintly, under his breath, only to be elbowed by Sango. Inuyasha growled almost silently.</p>
<p>"Hmm…" the priestess spoke again, as she glanced at them all once more. A ghostly pale serpent slithered up her body, drooping itself along her shoulders. She reached up to caress its head when it rested onto her shoulder. She turned her head to kiss the serpent. It slithered out his tongue, flicking it across her lips. "Tasty blood, for sure. There is much power in blood, more so than you may realize."</p>
<p>With that, the dark priestess turned around and walked off, chanting a strange phrase over and over. The four of them glanced at each other, unsure of what that meant, and how they would manage to achieve their goal. "That is definitely Tsubaki," Sango frowned.</p>
<p>Kagome blinked, for her vision suddenly began to get cloudy. "Guys…guys!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha grabbed her shoulder, his eyes going wide when he saw his girlfriend's eyes flash black. They darkened for a moment, before going back to normal, and then steadily began to turn black once more. He felt her aura rise up, flaring like mad, enough to make him draw his hand away when he felt it react adversely to his youki. "What the fuck is going on?" his voice was hushed and panicked.</p>
<p>"Kagome, talk to us!" Sango cried out, as she rushed to peer at her face. A vicious smile formed on the normally sweet girl's face, as black eyes glared at them all.</p>
<p>"My name's not Kagome," Kagome sneered.</p>
<p>"What did you do to her?" Miroku yelled out, glancing over his shoulder in the direction the dark priestess had gone. "Shit. That priestess did something to her. I just know it."</p>
<p>"I told you, there is much power in blood," Tsubaki reappeared, as she strolled out past the other side of the tree. "My friend here has a taste for blood. It's been a while since I've had a sample of one so powerful. However, as powerful she may be, she is horribly untrained, and that can only work to my advantage." The dark priestess let out a rather wicked laugh.</p>
<p>"You cursed her," Inuyasha snarled, his hands curling into fists. "Undo whatever you did to her right now, or I'll fucking kill you."</p>
<p>Tsubaki threw her head back and let out another long laugh. "I'm afraid what is done can not be so easily undone. While the curse can be lifted, yes, it can not be undone with mere words. The curse is tied to her blood now, so even if I die, the curse will remain." She turned and gazed down at Inuyasha, an evil grin forming on her face. "There are only two ways to break the curse. Either she has to overcome it herself, and break it on her own. Or one of you has to kill her." She paused again, laughing quietly at his enraged face. "Do you think you can kill the woman you have come to love, <em>hanyou</em>?" She all but spit the last word out, before laughing and turning to disappear into the sudden mist that formed.</p>
<p>Inuyasha's hand went to Tessaiga, as he automatically went to draw the sword. Sango put her hand on the snarling inuyoukai's arm, stilling him from charging after the dark priestess. "We need to get Kagome back to us, now!"</p>
<p>"Kagome is never coming back to you," Kagome said darkly. Sliding her bow from her shoulder, she raised it and notched an arrow. Her eyes were fully black now, and as she aimed the arrow, black and pink swirled around the projectile. "And I will kill every single one of you."</p>
<p>"Listen to me, Kagome, please!" Inuyasha called out to her. He let go of Tessaiga, for it was clearly going to be no use right now. Killing her was never going to be an option, so he had to have faith that she would break the curse out of her own free will.</p>
<p>"Who is this Kagome bitch you cry out for?" she mocked him, mouth twisted into a sinister grin. "Ka-go-me. Ugly sounding name. Almost as ugly as she is."</p>
<p>Ignoring the malicious voice that was coming from his girlfriend's body, Inuyasha dared to take a step closer to her. Usually he felt warm and fuzzy when he was in her proximity, but right now he felt void and cold, a sense of dread prickling his skin. Her contaminated aura fizzled and cracked wildly, causing him to step back to where he had been a moment ago.</p>
<p>Behind him, Sango and Miroku were frozen, for they knew there was nothing they could do right now. Attacking Kagome would do nothing, for she wasn't their enemy, and it wouldn't break the curse. Unless they killed her, obviously, but they would never do such a thing. There was no point in trying to go after Tsubaki either, because she was just as likely to put a curse on one of them as well. Or both of them.</p>
<p>"Which one of you should I kill off first? Hm?" Kagome let out an evil chuckle, as she moved her arrow from one to the other. "The demon slayer? The monk? Or the little kitty? I think I'll save the filthy hanyou for last."</p>
<p>Inuyasha backed up slowly to his friends. "Get on Kirara and get the fuck out of here, now!" he ordered, his voice coarse. He was not taking his eyes off of his cursed girlfriend for a split second. Not with the way she was eyeballing every one of them, with her bow and arrow fully drawn and ready to shoot.</p>
<p>"But we-" Sango began to protest.</p>
<p>"He's right, we should leave," Miroku cut her off, grabbing her by the arm. "We are just sitting ducks if we remain here. Damn this Tsubaki for this cowardly tactic, using one of our friends to try and pit us against each other. I highly doubt any of us will be able to get that bow away from her. Even if we all try to stop her together, she will shoot one of us for sure. All we can do is hope she is strong enough to break the curse." Sango slowly nodded and gave in, calling for Kirara to transform.</p>
<p>As they flew off, Kagome fired a couple arrows after the huge feline, thankfully missing as the cat quickly zoomed up into the thick canopy and disappeared. "Oh, too bad, I was looking forward to having some fun. Guess it's just me and the little doggy now," she sneered. Dropping her bow to her side, she started to walk in a circle around him.</p>
<p>Inuyasha slowly rotated as she walked, his eyes glued to her in case she was to attack him suddenly. Kagome began to twirl the bow as she walked, before coming to a halt and holding it behind her back with two hands. She gave him an evil looking smirk and began to walk towards him, rocking her hips in a suggestive manner.</p>
<p>"She's a feisty one, isn't she? This Ka-go-me of yours?" Kagome asked him, laughing at the way he took a few steps back, any time she got too close for comfort. "What, are you afraid of this strange raw power she has, that it might purify you if you're too close? Good. You should be afraid. She's a powerful little bitch, but unfortunately for her, I'm stronger and I can control my own power."</p>
<p>"Get out of her body right the fuck now," Inuyasha snarled. "Kagome, fight whatever it is she is telling you to do! I know you're in there!"</p>
<p>Kagome stopped and began to laugh. "Oh, in case I forgot to tell you, the longer she stays cursed, the harder it will be for her to break it. Eventually she will give in fully, and will never be able to return to her old self ever again. You may want to do the smart thing and just kill her now. Here, I'll even be kind enough to not avoid your attack so you can just end this little dance of ours. Your sword or your claws, it's up to you."</p>
<p>"Not in a million fucking years would I ever do that!" Inuyasha clenched his jaw. "Kagome, you're stronger than her. You can come back to me if you fight her off. You <em>are</em> strong enough to break this fucking curse!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha stared hard into her black eyes that resembled bottomless pits. He had faith in her, he truly did. Just then, a glimmer of blue flashed across her eyes, before darkening to pitch black once again. "<em>Kagome</em>!" he yelled, hoping that she could actually hear him.</p>
<p>"You need to die!" Kagome screamed, as she thrust her bow out in front, grabbing wildly at an arrow. An impressive amount of energy surrounded her, pink, with an increasing amount of black, as she notched the arrow and aimed it straight at his chest.</p>
<p>Kagome felt like she was drowning in an inky void. It was more black than she had ever seen, more so than the starless night sky that hung over Tokyo at night. It was all around her, gripping her like a vise. She could barely breathe, with all the pressure it was putting on her lungs. It also stung a bit, as if it were acidic. "Where am I?" she screamed, her voice fading into nothing. No matter which way she turned to look, it was all the same nothingness.</p>
<p>She wasn't alone though, for there were creatures and monsters slithering and scurrying around in the dark. Now and then she would feel something brush against her, making her scream and cry. All she wanted to do was curl into a little ball and die, just to make them go away.</p>
<p>There was something else there though, a large and strong presence. She could tell it was crying out to her, but she could hardly make out the words. Whatever it was, it seemed vaguely familiar. It wouldn't leave her alone though, but it never got any closer. She tried to focus on it, turning whichever way she thought she sensed it.</p>
<p>"There!" she gasped, when she finally caught sight of the other presence. It was familiar, for she recognized it as the centipede demon that had attacked her upon first coming in to this world. That demon had caused her a lot of pain and suffering, although she hadn't been aware of it at the time. She just knew because Inuyasha had told her about it. Now it was alive again, and it was coming for her.</p>
<p>She was not going to put either herself or him through that ordeal again. "You need to die!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, as she raised her bow and grabbed for an arrow. Perhaps it had escaped the first time, but she wasn't going to let that happen again. Holding her bow tightly, she aimed the arrow in the direction of the youkai she was sensing, and prepared to let it fly.</p>
<p>Just as she was about to fire her arrow, the centipede demon blinked, its image quickly flashing to one of Inuyasha. He was standing there facing her, a horrible expression on his face, as he clenched his fists and shouted to her. She couldn't make out the words, but one sounded an awful lot like Kagome. Blinking in confusion, she watched as he disappeared, the centipede in his place again.</p>
<p>"I <em>will</em> kill you," Kagome vowed, as she waited for the centipede to stop moving about. It didn't, but instead changed back to Inuyasha. "What are you doing here?" she hissed at him, feeling completely confused. "Run! Go!"</p>
<p>"No!" she heard Inuyasha choke out, his voice alarming her a bit, for she had never heard that tone come from him before. "Kagome, fight it! Please, you <em>can</em> do this!" For some reason, his voice was now more clear to her, but then in the blink of an eye, he was gone, and she found herself staring at the centipede once again. It was so real she could sense it.</p>
<p>"You nearly killed me, and caused a lot of pain and suffering, and all I want is for you to go back to hell where you belong! NOW FUCKING DIE!" An impressive snarl escaped her throat as she drew the bowstring back. It couldn't wait a second longer, for now the centipede was rushing towards her at top speed. Just as she let go of the arrow, the image of the centipede blinked and disappeared, her eyes widening in horror as she realized she was shooting at Inuyasha.</p>
<p>Kagome immediately jerked her arm as the arrow flew by, knocking it from its intended course and instead sailing off into the trees right beside him. She just barely missed him. "Kagome!" he cried out, staring at her with huge pleading eyes. "You're still in there, I know it! The dark priestess cursed you, and only you can break the curse yourself! Before it's too late. HURRY!"</p>
<p>In an instant, he was gone, and she found herself staring at the centipede once again. With horror, she realized that something was very, very wrong here. There was another voice, one that she had been overlooking in her panic. It was female, but not her own. "Keep shooting," it urged her. "Your enemy is right in front of you. If you don't end it now, the centipede demon is going to get you. Remember what happened the first time you got bit? If you don't want to suffer like that again, then raise your bow and purify the son of a bitch already!"</p>
<p>Shaking her head, Kagome dropped to the ground, except there was no ground. She just found herself crouching in the darkness. "NO!" she screamed. Something wasn't right. Inuyasha told her something about a curse and that she had to fight it. Nothing made sense though. Why wasn't the centipede demon actually attacking her? She had recalled how fast it had been. It would have snared her by now if it was real, she was sure of that.</p>
<p>"You don't have a choice," the female voice laughed. "You will obey. Get to your feet, now!"</p>
<p>Against her will, Kagome found herself rising to her feet once again. Her body felt robotic as she reached for her bow yet again. The woman kept whispering from the dark, but she found herself focusing on Inuyasha's words instead, replaying them over and over in her mind, as she reached for an arrow. As she thought of him, warmth began to radiate around her.</p>
<p>Kagome froze, refusing to notch the arrow, as the warmth around her and in her grew. It made her feel powerful and unstoppable, and she felt her mind clear up a bit. "Kill him already, before he kills you!" the woman encouraged her angrily.</p>
<p>A snarl ripped through Kagome's throat, one that would have made Inuyasha proud if he had been there to witness it. "I will <em>never</em> kill Inuyasha!" she growled dangerously, as she flung the bow aside. "GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!"</p>
<p>There was a bright flash, so bright that she almost fell down to the ground, and as it faded the inky blackness began to dissipate. Kagome blinked as she gazed around in a daze, realizing she was sitting in the middle of a forest. Something red was in front of her, rushing forward, to drop down with a flash of silver. "Inuyasha?" she choked out, gasping for breath.</p>
<p>Inuyasha grabbed her chin, tilting her face up to stare into those beautiful blue eyes of hers. "Yes, it's me. You're here. You're really here now." Before she could speak, his lips were crashing against hers.</p>
<p>Kagome felt her eyes well up a little bit, as he trembled and kissed her. She kissed him back before pulling away to finish catching her breath. "It was terrible," she wheezed, her chest heaving. "I felt so lost, in the black void. I thought I was going to drown even though there was no water. I…I…"</p>
<p>"Shh," Inuyasha kissed her forehead. Immense relief flooded his body, for he had been terrified that she wouldn't break free in time. "You did it. You fucking did it. I fucking knew you would."</p>
<p>"I tried to kill you," Kagome said with stark realization. Pushing his chest away, she stared at him in horror. "I tried to kill you!"</p>
<p>"It wasn't you. It was the curse that Tsubaki put on you," Inuyasha corrected her. "She was controlling you or something, but I could tell you were fighting it off. You shot at me, but you came to at the last second and you made your arrow miss."</p>
<p>"I still shot at you," Kagome sniffed. She was never going to be able to forgive herself for that, cursed or not.</p>
<p>Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, but instead whirled around to look up as Tsubaki appeared once again. The dark priestess looked furious. "You broke free. You wretched little witch. I almost had you! At least it wasn't all in vain, for I did steal some of your power," she threw her head back and laughed. "I did greatly enjoy seeing the filthy <em>hanyou</em> beg and cry out for his beloved. It was quite pathetic to witness, so at least I got some enjoyment out of this failed ordeal. Probably more so than if he had killed you, like I tried to order him to. If only you hadn't turned the arrow away at the last second. Your bond is strong, I'll give you that. Nobody has broken free of a curse of mine before."</p>
<p>"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Inuyasha growled, as he grabbed Tessaiga's handle.</p>
<p>"No!" Kagome said firmly, as she grabbed his arm. "This bitch is mine." Fully enraged at being possessed and cursed and nearly killing the man she loved in the process, she focused her power out through her hands and into the bow, channeling it with determination she had never felt before. She was sickened and furious at what she had been made to do mere moments ago.</p>
<p>A very wide-eyed Inuyasha gaped at her, for her entire body was crackling with a pink aura right now. Although he was at her side, it wasn't hurting him, for it no longer had the black mixed in. "Shit," he mumbled, mostly from being thoroughly impressed.</p>
<p>"You may have broken my curse, but don't get too cocky, you little whore." Tsubaki exclaimed furiously. "Just because you have a lot of spiritual power doesn't mean you've perfected how to use it! I'll just curse you once again, while you're more vulnerable from the first time!" She grabbed the ghost snake that had been draped around her shoulders and flung it in Kagome's direction, its body weaving rapidly through the tall grass.</p>
<p>Her eyes glued to the dark priestess, Kagome grabbed her bow, and quickly notched an arrow in record speed. "You will never have control over me ever again!" The arrow streaked like a comet, striking Tsubaki directly in the forehead. As Tsubaki's screams died with her body, the snake turned to ash mere inches from where Kagome was standing.</p>
<p>"Holy fuck. Remind me to never piss you off," Inuyasha gazed at his girlfriend in amazement. She had been getting better with her archery, but damn.</p>
<p>Kagome just laughed at him. "Better always remember to treat me good then!" she teased. "I gotta get the jewel shards from her now. Most are in her necklace, but I can also sense some inside of her home." She started to walk up the hill to Tsubaki's body, with Inuyasha right behind her. "Oh…I'm exhausted…"</p>
<p>"Kagome!" Inuyasha caught her as she stumbled, falling backwards due to gravity. She was unconscious by the time he had her in his arms bridal style. He let out a sigh and gave her a half grin. "You sure overdid it, but goddamn it, I'm proud of you."</p>
<p>Behind him, he heard a growl as Kirara landed. Sango and Miroku leapt off of her back, rushing to his side. "Is she ok?" Sango gushed. "We saw Tsubaki fall too."</p>
<p>Inuyasha just gazed down at his girlfriend, adjusting her so that her head was cradled against his chest and not just hanging back over his arm. "She's fine, just wore herself out. Can you go get the shards? Before she collapsed she said something about them being in the necklace Tsubaki is wearing. And there's more inside her home somewhere."</p>
<p>Sango darted off and returned with the necklace. "I got these, but can't get into the house. It seems like there's some kind of barrier. I don't know. Think you can check it out?'</p>
<p>"Sure," Inuyasha sighed. "Just stay right next to her and don't leave her side for an instant." He lay Kagome on the ground before jogging up to the quirky looking dwelling hidden amongst the trees. There was definitely a barrier of some sort, for he felt a shock as he got too close. Tessaiga pulsed wildly as he stood there. Putting his hand on the sword, Inuyasha frowned and stared at it thoughtfully. It pulsed again, which is tended to do when it was trying to tell him something.</p>
<p>"What is it?" Inuyasha mumbled, as he unsheathed the sword. Tessaiga immediately transformed, but instead of the usual steel blade, it was red. Just like the mysterious orb he had cut after they killed the catfish. "I guess you want me to attack something?" he muttered.</p>
<p>Running a hand through his hair, he held Tessaiga in confusion. The sword pulsed as he angled his body towards the house, which dawned on Inuyasha that it was possibly urging him to attack the structure. A bit unsure, he raised Tessaiga and swung it down, the bright red sword almost glowing as it sliced through the barrier like it was butter. He heard loud crackling as the barrier dissipated, and when he stepped forward, he was able to reach the door and push it open.</p>
<p>In a flash, he was back by Kagome. "Alright, you can run in there now. Apparently the red orb I cut the other day gave Tessaiga the power to cut through barriers."</p>
<p>"Well, that's useful," Miroku nodded, looking impressed. "So perhaps if you try cutting strange demonic artifacts, you'll end up with a sword of many uses."</p>
<p>"Different kind of multi-tool," Inuyasha declared. He scooped Kagome up in his arms, for she was still passed out completely. "Let's go find somewhere to go spend the night that isn't right here. I don't want to see this place ever again."</p>
<p>
  <em>A/N: Glad to hear readers are loving it and appreciate the kind words and support. Soon I will be catching up to the end of the chapters I had already written, and am trying to come up with ideas for later chapters. Kind of hard when I have 1000 things to do along with write. If anybody has any suggestions on misc events or things they would like to see at some point, feel free to mention them in a review. I might just see about incorporating those ideas into the story, although I have a handful of ideas I need to figure out how to put into play. I do have the last two chapters played out in my mind already, so I know exactly how I want it to end. Now I just need to start bridging that gap. </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Heaven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"It's about time you joined us!" Sango exclaimed, as Kagome started to struggle and attempt to sit up. "You've been passed out since last night! Inuyasha!"</p>
<p>Down by the river, Inuyasha's ears perked up when he heard Sango yell his name. He had been busy cleaning some of the tools they travelled with. Quickly shoving them back in the satchel, he darted back up to the camp they had set up last night.</p>
<p>"Hey, you're awake!" Inuyasha grinned happily, as he dropped down next to his girlfriend. Her hair was a mess and the whites of her eyes were a bit red, but she was up and conscious and that was all that mattered.</p>
<p>"Yeah. I need to pee and I'm starving," Kagome groaned. Crawling to her feet, she wandered off for a moment.</p>
<p>"I guess we'll need more fish, just to be safe," Inuyasha decided. Jumping to his feet, he headed back down to the river. His ears picked up the sound of footsteps behind him, and a quick sniff told him who it was. "Feeling alright, babe?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah. Physically. Still feeling bad for trying to shoot and kill you," Kagome sighed behind him. She was still tired, as she hadn't woken up completely yet, so she found a driftwood log to sit on and watch him fish.</p>
<p>"Don't. I know it wasn't really you intending to shoot that bow," Inuyasha told her. "No sense in dwelling on and punishing yourself for being under mind control like that. Just remember, you're a badass chick who killed a dark priestess with one blow, after being the first person to break the curse themselves."</p>
<p>"I don't remember much of what happened when I was under the curse," Kagome admitted. She sat silently for a moment, gazing at him. "But I do remember seeing you in bits and pieces. I told you to run away from me and you refused. Why?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha turned to his girlfriend and gazed down at her. She looked so small and vulnerable from this angle. "What kind of man would I be if I ran off and left you at a time like that, when you needed me? I knew that if I stayed and kept calling to you, you would eventually hear me and come back to me. I could never abandon you and run off like a coward."</p>
<p>"Just as I won't ever abandon you," Kagome promised him.</p>
<p>Inuyasha continued to look at her and gave her a small smile. "I know. I also know that you tend to dwell on things you have no control over or couldn't change. No sense in hanging on to bad memories like that. What good would it do you anyway?"</p>
<p>Kagome returned his smile. "None, I suppose, and you're right. It's a bad habit of mine. I need to focus more on the positive, such as your utter devotion to me. So where are we off to next?"</p>
<p>"Ready to hit the road already?" Inuyasha laughed at her. "Don't know, it hasn't been decided yet. We stayed here last night, just to get away from that place. Oh, and remember that red orb from the lake? Apparently when I cut it, Tessaiga gained the power to cut through barriers, which I discovered last night, since Tsubaki had a barrier around her home. Tessaiga started to pulse so I took the hint and gave it a try. We got the shards that were inside and then left."</p>
<p>"I missed a lot, didn't I?" Kagome sighed. "Well, I'm all rested now, so get me some lunch and we can continue on our merry way."</p>
<p>"That's what I'm doing, you bossy little woman," Inuyasha smirked. "Already caught a bunch, but you're starving, so I'm getting some more for you. Here. Have at it."</p>
<p>"Aw, thanks honey," Kagome made a face at him when he held out a raw, very freshly killed fish for her. Jumping up, she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. "I'll be back by the campfire, where we can cook them properly before eating." She felt pretty good as she made her way back up the slope, towards the rocky outcropping the others were sitting under. "How many shards did she have?" she asked, reaching for the backpack.</p>
<p>"Quite a few. She kept them in a little jar," Miroku informed her.</p>
<p>"Hm," Kagome said, as she opened the jar and let them tumble out into her hand. The shards were dark purple, but as she held them and let her power flow, they paled to lilac. Between those and the others they previously found, they were starting to have quite the collection. Hopefully they wouldn't end up losing one…That gave her an idea. She grabbed the other shards and poured all of them into her palm, closing her fingers over them. Letting her power flow once again, she kept her hand closed over the shards for a few moments, to find that they had solidified into part of an orb when she opened her hand.</p>
<p>"Oh, cool!" Sango exclaimed, as she saw Kagome hold the partial pink jewel. "That will make them easier to carry and less likely to lose one! Plus we'll be able to see the progress better."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Kagome smiled happily, as she tucked the unfinished jewel away.</p>
<p>With everybody in good spirits, after defeating the dark priestess and obtaining a significant chunk of the jewel, they managed to cover a good chunk of distance after lunch. Continuing their trek south, they decided to just see where the road would take them, as they currently had no leads. Adventure had a way of finding them, it seemed, so they were sure to have another wild encounter sooner or later.</p>
<p>They made camp shortly after passing by a few large farms sprawled across the countryside, in favor of choosing a spot on the edge of the forest nearby. Miroku hadn't even bothered to suggest an exorcism to try and stay at one of the farms, since the buildings themselves were smaller, and most likely the families had a lot of children and/or workers, so they were likely to be more crowded.</p>
<p>Sango and Miroku provided the daily comedy routine as usual, before they settled down for the night with a huff. Kagome lay down with Inuyasha curled up behind her, in their usual fashion, using his fire rat robe as a blanket. It was such a peaceful night, with fireflies flitting about as the sky continued to fully darken with the sun gone.</p>
<p>"Can't sleep at all," Kagome whispered, after listening to Miroku snore softly for a while. Rolling onto her back, she gazed up at her boyfriend, who was laying there with his hand propping his head up. "I'm wide awake right now since I was asleep until afternoon."</p>
<p>Inuyasha gazed down at her with a small smirk. "You don't have to sleep if you don't want to. It's a really nice night out right now…we could always go somewhere more private."</p>
<p>"I think we should," Kagome sat up, a sudden pang tightening her lower half as she thought of the implication in his suggestion. He sat up with her and grinned, planting a quick kiss to her lips. Grabbing the fire rat robe, he quickly slipped into it and reached for her hand. Kirara lifted her head as they had gotten up, blinking her red eyes at them as she watched them silently. The other humans in their party didn't stir at all, as they silently left their camping spot.</p>
<p>Holding Kagome's hand in his clawed one, Inuyasha led the way, as they slowly strolled away from the forest and across the grassy meadow. Gently rolling hills made up the landscape. The night sky was quite clear, with the moon high in the sky, providing just enough light for Kagome to navigate. "I love how there are so many stars out here," she said dreamily, gazing up at the millions of dots in the sky above them. "I just can't get over how well you can see the Milky Way! It doesn't get old no matter how many times I look at it."</p>
<p>"Yeah, it's really beautiful. Makes me feel like I'm back in Montana," Inuyasha said, as he gazed at the sky wistfully. He squeezed her hand as he reminisced growing up. "One day, after we make it back to our time, I want to bring you there to visit. It might kind of remind you of all of this, in the wilderness. There's so many awesome places to visit and explore, and I want to do see them again, but with you."</p>
<p>"I would love that," Kagome smiled up at him. "I miss the national parks. The Rocky Mountains are the best part of the US, I think. Maybe we can spend a few months there, rent a camper or something, and just travel all over the West. I've only really seen Colorado, but have always wanted to see all the other states as well. There's so many different types of scenery. I never did get to visit Yellowstone, sadly."</p>
<p>"It's a plan, then. I'll be the one to take you there," Inuyasha promised her. "Something to look forward to upon our return. We'll make it back. I'll see to it." They walked in silence for a bit, deep in thought and admiring the lovely nightscape. Once they were a decent way from the campsite, without going too far, for there was more security in the vicinity of the inhabited farmlands, he came to a stop and pulled his girlfriend to stand in front of him.</p>
<p>Kagome gazed up at Inuyasha's glinting golden eyes as he tilted her chin up and leaned down to kiss her. She reached up to wrap an arm around his neck, under his silvery hair that was glowing slightly from the moonlight. He kissed her slowly, but thoroughly, before dropping to sit on the ground, tugging on her hand to follow suit. She dropped down to straddle his lap, her kimono riding high up on her thighs as she did so.</p>
<p>Wanting to see and touch bare skin, Kagome pushed his red robe off of his shoulders and then pulled his tan kosode apart, revealing his lightly tanned, firm chest. Tilting her head, she let him kiss her deeply, as her hands roamed the sculpted muscles of his biceps and pecs. As her hands roamed, so did his, reaching for her kimono to pull it apart and down her shoulders.</p>
<p>Inuyasha grinned against her kiss as his hands cupped her bare breasts, feeling her shiver when his claws tickled the tender flesh. She had been dressed for bed so she had previously removed her bra before they lay down earlier, he had realized with delight.</p>
<p>Kagome felt her nipples harden quickly as they became exposed to the gentle breeze and her boyfriend's teasing fingers. She tilted her head back as he began to kiss her neck, sucking hard here and there, as he trailed his lips to the center of her throat, and across her collarbone. All the while his hands played with her breasts, roaming them eagerly.</p>
<p>Sitting so intimately in Inuyasha's lap, Kagome felt the heat of his pelvis, and was well aware of how he was pressed to her inner thighs. As he nudged her backwards a bit, his lips trailing down to latch onto her nipple, she reached down between their bodies and wrapped her fingers around the bulge in his hakama. Inuyasha growled, teeth still latched onto her nipple, his hips jerking slightly, as she began rubbing his growing erection through the thick fabric of his hakama.</p>
<p>"You're still wearing too much clothing," Kagome gasped, as he switched to suck her other nipple, his fingers twirling her saliva coated one with his fingers. She was shivering a bit at the feel of him, and that was through the pants. It wasn't nearly enough to satisfy her. Her hands clawed for the ties of his hakama, quickly undoing the straps.</p>
<p>"So are you. I want to see everything," Inuyasha murmured quietly. Nudging her out of his lap, they both stood up and he kicked his hakama off, before pulling his modern boxers down. Kagome had been undoing the obi to her kimono slowly, her eyes glued to his abdomen, and then lower, as he fully revealed himself to her for the first time. Intentionally, that is. She froze, staring at his semi-erect cock.</p>
<p>"Need some help, slow poke?" Inuyasha chuckled at her, making her glance up at his face with a blush, having got caught staring. Without waiting for an answer, he pulled her hands away from her obi, leaning down to kiss her collarbone while he undid the knot. He dropped to his knees, his mouth leaving a trail of kisses down her body as she stood there, letting her kimono fall off once the belt was undone. His hands rested on her shapely hips as he kissed below her belly button, before he grabbed the sides of her makeshift panties and pulled them down in one quick motion.</p>
<p>"Do you have any idea how long I've been fantasizing about seeing all of you like this?" Inuyasha grinned, glancing up at her before leaning back in to kiss her, his lips going for the inside of her hipbone, as he trailed the back if his fingers down the bare, silky smooth skin at the juncture of her thighs. Kagome blushed at his statement and shivered as he touched her, before turning away from her to spread out his fire rat robe on the grassy knoll. He needed a breath of fresh air to still his urges, for she just smelled so fucking good just then, especially with his face at that level.</p>
<p>"No, but you weren't the only one fantasizing," Kagome informed him, reaching forward to brush his bangs out of his eyes as he sat down and gazed up at her. "Even before we both fell through the well and ended up here, I do have to admit."</p>
<p>"Same for me as well. I sometimes wonder, if not for the well incident, would we ever have gotten together?" Inuyasha couldn't help but ponder. "Whatever though, this was just meant to be. Enough talking though." Reaching for her hand, he tugged her to sit down in his lap again and resume their former position so they could continue to make out, this time with nothing between them.</p>
<p>Kagome laughed quietly as she lowered herself onto his lap, very carefully, as she pushed his erection down so that she was sitting on top of it. Inuyasha groaned loudly as she did, turning his head to the side, his eyes half shut as he felt their most intimate parts brush against each other for the first time. Grinning at the effect she was having on him, she jerked her hips slightly, making him growl.</p>
<p>Inuyasha was a bit overcome by all of the sudden skin-to-skin contact, his senses going haywire, as he breathed in the scent of arousal that was coming from both of them. His chest was heaving a bit as he sucked in a few gulps of air. His hands were resting on his girlfriend's bare hips, the tips of his claws just barely prickling her skin.</p>
<p>A sly grin formed on Kagome's face as she sat up on her knees, nipples aching as they dragged along her boyfriend's bare chest, while she leaned up towards his head. "In case you were unaware, I've been fantasizing about certain other parts of you way more than you know," she whispered into his ear, before taking the furry triangle into her mouth. She trailed the tip of her tongue along the downy furred inside, her teeth grazing the triangle of flesh, while she sucked gently, pulling back to let it slide out of her mouth.</p>
<p>Letting out a strangled cry, Inuyasha flipped her over in the blink of an eye, crouching over her, his entire body shuddering. "<em>Fucking</em> <em>hell</em>, woman," he choked out, burying his face against the side of her neck for a moment before staring at her smirking face. "Don't you ever do that again, or I'll be cumming in two seconds flat. I don't know about you, but I want this to last a bit longer than that."</p>
<p>"I'll keep that in mind. However, I absolutely will do that again at some point," Kagome grinned mischievously at him, her eyes sparkling as she contained her laughter. She had gotten a huge kick out of that noises he had just made.</p>
<p>Inuyasha fake glared at her and gave her a sharp nip to the neck, making her squeal. He wasn't mad at all, for he found the whole thing to be fucking erotic as all hell, but he was serious about cumming in two seconds if she were to keep doing that. To keep his ears out of her range, he continued kissing down her body, pausing at her chest to kiss around and under both breasts, before leaving a wet trail down the center of her tummy.</p>
<p>Kagome sucked her breath in as she felt his clawed fingers grasp her hips, and his mouth trail across the bottom of her belly, from one side to the other. "Oh god," she groaned, feeling suddenly very shy when his hands moved to grab her thighs, spreading them wide open, as he settled in between her legs. She gulped deeply, shivering a bit as the slightly chilled breeze caressed her skin in places that had never been exposed before.</p>
<p>Breathing deeply to calm his nerves, Inuyasha gazed through half-lidded eyes as he dragged his fingers along his girlfriend's outer folds, before parting them to reveal the fleshy pink that they hid. Her scent hit him full force, making him groan in agony. Mouth watering, he leaned in, burying his nose in the softness before flattening his tongue to give her a long, languid lick.</p>
<p>Letting out a cry of her own, Kagome's hips bucked a bit as her boyfriend's warm, wet tongue continued to lick her in a very intimate manner. Mouth open, she found herself gasping, as he let his tongue slide in a little deeper. All inhibitions began to fade away, for all she could think about was how fucking good he was making her feel, and she would do anything to make it last forever.</p>
<p>Inuyasha's ears flicked a bit, as they picked up every sexy moan his girlfriend was making right now. The way she shuddered and bucked her hips as he ate her out was a massive turn-on, however he was a little afraid of catching her with his fangs in the process, so he reached up to gently press a hand down on her abdomen, in effort to still her a bit.</p>
<p>Alternating between long slow licks and more rapid movements, Inuyasha tried to pay attention to her reactions as he experimented, in effort to learn her body and what she liked most. It was a bit hard to concentrate, for she tasted and smelled so fucking good, it was making him delirious. Carefully, he used his fingers to keep her parted open, so that he could lick her as deeply as possible.</p>
<p>Groaning himself, Inuyasha continued to experiment with his tongue, letting the tip of it trail upwards, flicking it slightly when it passed over a small bump under her flesh. That elicited a loud cry from Kagome, hips jerking and thighs clenching a bit, around his shoulders, signaling to him that it was a more tender spot. A wide grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, as he began to focus his efforts there, slowly swirling the tip of his tongue around that little spot, why she cried out loudly.</p>
<p>"Ooooh!" Kagome moaned, her back arching as her face scrunched up, eyes tightly shut, as her hands grabbed the robe beneath her, tightly fisting the fabric. Her entire body was trembling right now, as she felt an intense tightness in her loins, before white hot waves of pleasure burst forth, making her gasp out with ragged sobs.</p>
<p>With eyes tightly shut, Kagome struggled to catch her breath, as she lay there, grasping the fire rat robe as if her life depended on it. Something tickled her body, moving from her lower half up to her breasts and arms, which she realized was her boyfriend's long silver hair, as she cracked her eyes open to gaze up at him. "What was that?' she choked out. "What happened just now?"</p>
<p>It took Inuyasha a moment to guess what she was referring to. "You had an orgasm?" he raised a brow at her, while grinning down at her very flushed face and chest. Raising a hand, he wiped his mouth and chin off, for she had made a bit of a mess on his face. He wasn't complaining in the least though, for he was proud to have provided her with so much pleasure.</p>
<p>"Oh," Kagome smiled up at him weakly. "I've never…oh my god…amazing…more…"</p>
<p>"A million more times," Inuyasha growled lowly, as he leaned down to lick the side of her neck. "You taste so fucking good, you have no idea." His cock was throbbing, the sensitive tip of it on fire as he let it trail along his girlfriend's leg, as he held himself above her. He gazed down at her, as she cooled off a bit, coming down from the high that he had given her. Never had he seen her look so sexy before, with her long black hair a wild mess beneath her head, lips parted a bit, as she gazed up at him with a heady look.</p>
<p>Reaching up, he cradled the side of her face with his hand, his thumb rubbing her jawline. "I want you so bad, baby. Will you let me have you? All of you?"</p>
<p>Kagome nodded and reached up to pull him down, so their foreheads were touching. "Yes. I'm all yours just as you're all mine."</p>
<p>Inuyasha grinned widely and crashed his mouth to hers, giving her a deep kiss that she felt all the way to her toes, before he reached down between their naked bodies. Wrapping her arms loosely around his shoulders, Kagome gazed up at her boyfriend as she felt him guide his cock to her core, the hot blunt tip of it brushing around the apex of her thighs, before it started to press into her. She instinctively tensed up a bit, as he started to slowly push into her.</p>
<p>"Relax, babe," Inuyasha growled soothingly, as he stilled his movements. He sensed her sudden nervousness that laced her want and arousal. She was plenty wet enough for him, he had made damn well sure of that, but she still needed a bit of a distraction. Lowering his head, he kissed her neck roughly, just the way she liked, until she was moaning a bit. While giving her neck some rough affection, he started rocking his hips a bit, thrusting gently, as he entered her.</p>
<p>Kagome gripped his shoulders and gasped, as she felt herself being stretched to an uncomfortable extent, as her boyfriend's rhythmic thrusts opened her up fully. It didn't hurt so much, maybe just a slight pinch when she felt him thrust a little harder, after meeting a little bit of resistance. By the time he sheathed himself fully, he paused, resting on his elbows to gaze down at her.</p>
<p>"Does it hurt?" he asked quietly, brushing her bangs out of her eyes with his thumb. She shook her head, swallowing hard. "Good," he kissed the tip of her nose playfully. "I'm trying to make it good for you. Just…tell me to slow down if you need me to. I don't wanna hurt you."</p>
<p>Kagome lifted her head to kiss his lips. "I will. You just feel so big."</p>
<p>A prideful grin formed on Inuyasha's face as he jerked his hips a bit. "So, do you like my big cock inside of you?"</p>
<p>"Yes," Kagome laughed, licking her lips.</p>
<p>"Good, because I plan to do this often. Very often," Inuyasha declared. Taking a deep breath, he began rocking his hips a bit, thrusting in and out slowly at first, as his girlfriend's tight walls gripped him all around. "Fuuuuuck, this feels amazing," he groaned, dropping his head a bit to bury his nose against her neck. Little ragged breaths escaped his mouth as he picked up the pace. Her legs began to relax, from her thighs being tightly clenched around his waist, to her ankles now just loosely crossed.</p>
<p>Kagome moaned as Inuyasha started to thrust into her with more force. Her fingernails were digging into his back, as she held his torso tight. They were both covered in a sheen of sweat, heat building between their bodies as their bare torsos as they glided against each other. Her nipples tingled as they dragged up and down her boyfriend's hard, flat chest, from the movement of him thrusting into her.</p>
<p>Lowering his head, Inuyasha began to lick and suck the side of his girlfriend's neck, hard. She responded favorably to that, gripping his shoulders as she moaned his name loudly. It was music to his ears. A strangled cry emerged from his own throat, as he felt the pit of his stomach suddenly tighten. Giving her neck one last bite, he reached up to cradle the side of her head with his hand. He needed to see her eyes right now.</p>
<p>Kagome's eyes took a minute to focus, as she found herself staring at her boyfriend's face. He was panting, mouth slightly open, and his eyes a deep rich gold as they penetrated her to her very core. "Oh fuck," he groaned, his face contorting slightly and his eyes squeezing shut, as he thrusted into her rather hard. "I'm gonna…<em>fuuuuck</em>…"</p>
<p>Inuyasha gulped, as he forced himself not to slam his hips into hers too hard, although she had been taking him quite well so far. Moaning loudly, he covered her mouth with his, his tongue wildly seeking hers out. She gasped against his mouth when his fang nicked her lip, but was quickly soothed as his tongue lapped over the wound. He kissed her hard, his teeth nibbling her lower lip before he had to pull away to catch his breath.</p>
<p>"I'm gonna….gonna cum…" Inuyasha let out a loud moan, his eyes rolling a bit as he thrusted his hips a bit erratically. The tension in the pit of his belly suddenly snapped, releasing what felt like a tidal wave of pleasure, as he exploded deep within her. He kissed her hard again, hips jerking as he let her tight walls milk out every last drop from him.</p>
<p>Grabbing her hands in his to press them to the grass on either side of her head, Inuyasha laced their fingers together. "Wow. Just wow." The grin on his face was practically ear to ear, as he held himself above her, gazing down with pure bliss.</p>
<p>"That was amazing. Our first time with each other," Kagome's face broke out into a huge grin before she cast him a sly look. "Or shall I say, the first time for <em>both</em> of us, ever."</p>
<p>Inuyasha snorted at that. "I don't recall ever actually admitting to you that I was a virgin. Was it really that obvious?"</p>
<p>"You didn't have to. And yeah, I could tell, just based on things you've said, and just by knowing you, and how you are as a person," Kagome giggled. She wrapped her arms around him to hug his sweaty body close. "I'm just so happy to be your first, and to have you be mine."</p>
<p>"Me too. I wouldn't have it any other way," Inuyasha told her, giving her a deep kiss. "I'm curious though, did you feel anything kind of strange, while we were having sex? Like our energies doing something on their own? I don't know how to explain it any better." The entire time they were making love, he had felt as if his youkai had been reacting to her energy a bit, however it had been kind of overshadowed by the intense physical pleasure he had been enjoying.</p>
<p>Kagome grinned and turned to gaze at their intertwined fingers. "You mean like this?" she asked, as she let some of her power flow out of her hands. The pink glow was immediately matched by Inuyasha's yellow youkai, that flared out from his hand, surprising them both. Their opposing energy types weren't reacting to attack each other's, but instead they seemed to complement the other, swirling in tandem at first before combining into a soft orange glow. It felt extremely comforting, as if their very souls were touching, seeking refuge in each other as they blended into one.</p>
<p>"Yeah, that. I wonder if it will happen every time?" Inuyasha wondered, before giving her a sly grin. "I can't wait to find out!"</p>
<p>"Typical male," Kagome laughed, rolling her eyes at him. "You just had sex and already you're thinking about the next time."</p>
<p>"Hell yeah, I am!" Inuyasha declared. He glanced at their hands, fingers still intertwined, before gazing down at his beautiful girlfriend, his expression going from cocky to soft. "You know, I'm not religious or anything. Never have been, especially with how my life has gone. I've never been one to actually believe in heaven or hell or any of that shit, but if there was such a thing as heaven, it would be this. Right here with you, like this. Most of my life has sucked, and I've been miserable for a good amount of it, but being with you has made me happy."</p>
<p>Kagome smiled up at him, her heart fluttering at the sincerity in his words and in his eyes. "It was an interesting play of events that brought us together, from one side of the world to the other, and then this crazy adventure through time, but here we are. I have you now, and I'm never letting you go."</p>
<p>"Likewise," Inuyasha grinned, and playfully bit her neck. With a groan, he pushed himself up off of her, slowly withdrawing his hips to pull out of her the rest of the way. The scent of their love-making was so thick still, he breathed in deeply, unable to get enough of it.</p>
<p>Instead of getting up, Kagome just folded her arms under her head, arching her back slightly, as she gazed up at her sexy boyfriend. The moonlight was making his silver hair glow beautifully. With him not on top of her any longer, the cool breeze tickled her bare flesh, causing goosebumps to erupt everywhere. "I kind of want to stay here like this all night," she told him wistfully.</p>
<p>Inuyasha gave her a sultry look, his eyes roaming her bare body with zero shame. "Don't tempt me, bitch. As much as I'd love to, we should probably go get some sleep back at camp, before they get confused and go looking for us in the morning."</p>
<p>"True," Kagome sighed. Pushing herself to sit up, she glanced at her boyfriend's tall, lean, very <em>naked</em> frame, as he picked up his boxers and shook them off to make sure there was no dirt. He was the perfect amount of lean muscle from head to toe, and very well hung. Not to mention he was all hers. <em>'I'm a very lucky girl,'</em> she thought with a grin, as she finally grabbed her kimono and got to her feet.</p>
<p>Hand in hand, the young lovers strolled back to the campsite, the pale moon illuminating their way.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Trouble</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Ohhh, this feels so good," Kagome said blissfully, as she leaned back against the rough boulder in the hot water. The steam was rising up and warming her exposed skin as well.</p>
<p>On their travels, Miroku had informed them of some well known hot springs he had heard about off the beaten path, and had been the one to suggest they take a detour so the girls could soak. Of course, Inuyasha had thumped him on the head and said he would strangle him if he went to spy on them, meaning his girlfriend. Miroku had pleaded innocence, saying he truly meant it as a treat for the girls and not to try and set them up to be spied on.</p>
<p>"It does. I haven't taken the time to just soak in a hot spring in years," Sango admitted. "I was always so busy training that there was no time for such luxuries. There weren't any hot springs close to my village, and any time I left to go do a job, we couldn't just stop and enjoy the springs that we would pass on the way."</p>
<p>Kagome sunk down, stretching her legs far in front of her. It was a small pool, less than five feet across but the thermal vents in it kept the water steaming hot. All the pools here were on the small side, with only a couple of them being large enough for more than one person. Sango was currently soaking in her own pool right next to her.</p>
<p>"So," Sango began, somewhat cautiously, as she turned to face her. There was a low rocky ledge diving their pools, just a couple inches above the water level, so they could easily see each other.</p>
<p>"Yes?" Kagome raised a brow at the slayer.</p>
<p>"Where have you two been going at night? A few nights ago I woke up to get a drink, and noticed it was just myself, Kirara, and the lecher at camp. At first I was worried and thought about waking Miroku, but then I realized that Kirara was perfectly calm and content to lay there, so I knew that nothing bad had happened. I was awake for a bit but you never came back before I fell asleep."</p>
<p>Kagome blushed a nice shade of red and glanced away. "We, uh, needed to get away from camp just to have some privacy. It was such a nice night out, and we had been waiting for one like that for a little while now. So we walked a little ways away and found a good spot to lay down. Watched the stars…"</p>
<p>Sango frowned a bit and gave her a quizzical look. "You left camp just to watch the stars?"</p>
<p>"Well, no, we mainly have been leaving for other reasons. More personal reasons, like, how should I put it…" Kagome replied, daring to shoot the other girl a sidelong glance. She wasn't quite sure how taboo it was to talk about such things in this time period. "You know, we just wanted to be <em>with</em> each other, working on marital relationships. Like husband and wife activities."</p>
<p>"Oh!" Sango replied, blushing a bit herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I suppose it should have been obvious to me, but I wasn't thinking about that being the reason you two had to slip away."</p>
<p>Kagome couldn't help but feel a bit amused at her naive friend, but also curious at her response. "Well, if you weren't thinking that was the reason for us running off in the middle of the night, then what else did you expect us to be doing at that hour?"</p>
<p>A guilty look came across Sango's face, even though she tried to hide it. "Maybe scouting, spying, or worst case would be that you were making arrangements with others of more ill intent. I'm not saying that I believe that would be the case deep down, but it's just ingrained in my mind to be suspicious of things. I've just seen too many acts of betrayal these past few years so there is always that lingering thought in the back of my mind."</p>
<p>"It's ok, I'm not upset," Kagome replied, giving the embarrassed girl a small smile. "We haven't known each other for every long, and even though we are friends, I can't hold it against you for still having traces of suspicion. After all, we each grew up in very different worlds. I can swear to you that we aren't the type to betray our friends though. Our goal is the same as yours, to defeat our common enemy Naraku."</p>
<p>Sango sighed and hunched down in the water a bit. "I know, I feel you are both trustworthy. And I do consider you a friend for sure. I'm sorry for bringing that up but I just had to ask." The two sat in silence for another long moment before she straightened back up. "Are you two really going to go back home, after Naraku is defeated? Or do you think you will ever travel this way again?" the demon slayer asked, glancing at her raven haired friend.</p>
<p>Kagome froze, for she realized they had never truly told Sango and Miroku the actual story of how they came to be here. "It's not that simple," she said slowly, turning to face the other girl. "We didn't just come here from another land, or across the sea, or anything like that. We came here from another time, through a magical well. Our home is in the future. Five hundred years in the future, give or take several years."</p>
<p>"What?" Sango exclaimed, mouth dropping open in shock. "You…really? Wow…"</p>
<p>"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," Kagome admitted. "That's why we don't really understand a lot of the day to day aspects here. Our world, or our time, is so much different than how it is now. You wouldn't believe the kinds of things that are considered normal in our time. There are way more people, and the villages are called cities, that would take you more than a day to walk from one side to the other. There are buildings much, much taller than trees. Nobody rides horses anymore, instead there are these things called cars and trains that people ride inside of, that are far faster than any horses or flying cat."</p>
<p>"Oh wow. I can't even imagine what that is like. I do wish I could see your time for myself though, but I'm sure that would never be possible," Sango said sadly. "We had thought that perhaps you had come from the great mainland, or from another country from a far off land."</p>
<p>Kagome gave her an apologetic smile. "If that were the case, we would definitely come back to visit you. You're a good friend. We will be sad to have to leave you behind, but I'm sure you can understand that our whole life is in the future, with our other friends, and our family."</p>
<p>"Yes, I understand completely," Sango gave her a sad smile. "I would never, ever, expect you to abandon your life like that, when you're given the opportunity to return. I suppose I'm just emotional after losing everybody I love and know, and the thought that you two will go away as well, sooner or later, it just makes me sad. If only there was a way we would be able to meet again later on."</p>
<p>"Sango," Kagome said, giving her a small smile. "You know what is really crazy? When we first met you, we both thought you looked exactly like our friend in Tokyo. Her name is Sonya. She has a boyfriend named Mark, who looks and acts just like Miroku does. We thought it was just some bizarre occurrence, but perhaps the four of us are tied across time as well. Even after we leave, we will meet again, in a sense, and we will all be great friends."</p>
<p>"Boyfriend?" Sango asked, her eyes glinting a bit as she managed to smile at Kagome as she heard about their future friends. "That's what you call Inuyasha. So where you come from, your friends that remind you of the two of us here, are courting there. Should I feel sorry for this Sonya friend of yours?"</p>
<p>Kagome couldn't help but laugh at that. "I don't think so. They have their moments, and he is a bit of a pervert, but ultimately he is dedicated to her. It's mostly just talk with him. You can't go around groping random women's bottoms in our world, without getting the police involved and getting in a lot of trouble. The police are people that make sure the citizens behave, and those who break the law get punished."</p>
<p>Sango laughed as well. "That's good, then. I don't want a future reincarnation of myself to end up with someone who doesn't treat her well. Hopefully she would knock him upside the head herself if he ever did try anything bad."</p>
<p>"I wouldn't doubt it," Kagome chuckled a bit before quieting down. A bit of sadness hit her, for she truly missed their modern friends. She wondered what they were all up to right now, if they were going crazy trying to find the missing duo, or if they had moved on and given up their search, as it had been quite sometime at this point.</p>
<p>"It seems like it would be harder to go to the future than it is to come to the past," Sango said thoughtfully. "I am curious now though, but I guess I'll find out in 500 years, kind of." The girls laughed at that, before quieting down to finish their baths. Eventually Sango stretched and decided to get out and return to the others, while Kagome remained in the water, deep in thought, hugging her knees to her chest.</p>
<p>Kagome's thoughts were interrupted when she sensed Inuyasha coming up behind her. Ever since they made love for the first time the other night, when their souls danced together into one, she had been able to just know when he was close by, even if she didn't see or hear him. His mere presence made her feel warm and soothed.</p>
<p>"Everything alright, babe?" Inuyasha asked, as he dropped down to crouch at the edge of the hot springs. "Sango came out alone and I could smell her tears, and you're in here kind of sad as well. What's going on?" His eyes were concerned as he gazed down at her.</p>
<p>"Oh, we were just talking. I finally told her that we came here from the future, when she asked if we would ever come back to visit after Naraku was defeated. We were sad thinking about how when we leave, it's for good, but I also told her it will be like she and Miroku are reincarnated again and the four of us will reunite. Between losing all of her village and us eventually leaving, she will be let with nobody here. Unless somehow Miroku gets a grip on it and gets with her," Kagome explained.</p>
<p>"They would probably be a good couple, if he would stop chasing after every female he sees," Inuyasha agreed. "I'm pretty sure his criteria is she just needs to be alive and breathing."</p>
<p>That made Kagome laugh. "I can't argue with that. I am pretty sure that Sango likes him, even if she hasn't said that she does, so I hope they get together in the end. Anyways, I suppose it's time for me to get out of the bath so we can get going, yes?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned and gracefully climbed out of the hot springs pool, fanning herself to cool down as she stood beneath the filtered sunlight underneath the closest tree.</p>
<p>"Wow, I was starting to get kind of hot in there." She stood there facing her boyfriend, feeling slightly shy, as this was the first time she was letting him take a good look at her in actual daylight.</p>
<p>"Your body is pretty flushed," Inuyasha observed, as he admired her wet, fully naked form as she casually stood in front of him. He let his eyes roam her perfect figure, lingering on her shapely bottom when she turned and leaned to grab her kimono that was somewhat folded on top of a large boulder. She was perfect from every angle, he thought as he licked his lips subconsciously.</p>
<p>"You're drooling," Kagome raised an eyebrow at him, as she smirked suggestively over her shoulder, while pulling her kimono on. When Inuyasha blinked and wiped his mouth, she laughed. "So you <em>were</em> drooling over me?" she teased.</p>
<p>"Shut up," Inuyasha growled playfully. Once she was dressed, they headed back to the others and continued on their way.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"I smell Naraku's miasma!" Inuyasha called out, as he suddenly came to a halt. Kirara roared and circled back to him as Sango turned her. Lifting his head, he sniffed the air deeply, turning his head side to side as he tried to detect the direction it was coming from. It had a distinct acidic scent to it, extremely sour and thick, burning his nose. Exactly like the purple cloud that Kagome had purified away at the demon slayer village. "Northwest."</p>
<p>"I see it!" Sango yelled, after she urged Kirara to fly high in the sky, so she could scan the vast horizon. At full speed, the cat and the inuyoukai raced towards the nasty purple cloud.</p>
<p>There was a full on battle when they reached it. Kagome fired several arrows to clear the air. There were dead humans and youkai everywhere, but a lot were still alive and fighting. As they hadn't had time to sit and come up with a strategy, it was straight to battle for the four of them.</p>
<p>"Kagome, stay on Kirara's back," Inuyasha ordered, as Sango and Miroku had leapt off to charge in and attack the nearest youkai. He pushed her up onto the giant cat and unsheathed Tessaiga as she took off back into the sky. It would be too dangerous on the ground with all the commotion, and Kirara was fast and could keep her out of danger.</p>
<p>With the mixture of fighting human soldiers and youkai, it was going to be impossible to use the Wind Scar, for he would end up killing the humans along with the demons. There were so many of them around, but at least they seemed to be mostly lower level demons. While they were a tough match for the mere human soldiers, their group should be able to take them out quickly.</p>
<p>Inuyasha charged forward, leaping and slicing the heads off of every youkai in his path. As soon as he leapt on the back of one and beheaded it, he was lurching to his next opponent in the blink of an eye. Kagome was doing a decent job firing her arrows at youkai in passing. Her archery skills had increased a bit, but it was rather difficult to shoot a moving target from a moving target. Mostly she aimed at the larger youkai as Kirara flew over the battlefield, helping to take down a few of them, mostly due to her powers enchanting the arrows and not necessarily the damage caused by the arrow alone.</p>
<p>On the other side of the battlefield, Miroku was carefully and selectively using his wind tunnel to suck up any youkai he could, when the opportunity arose. Mainly that involved the youkai that were either extremely tall or flying overhead. He had to make sure to keep an eye out for where Inuyasha and Kirara were, as Sango was fighting on the ground nearby. She was a beautiful warrior, he thought, glancing her way before shaking his head to get such thoughts out of mind. This simply wasn't the time, but later he would replay those memories in his head. Fortunately he did have skills using his staff in close quarter combat, so he was capable of holding his own.</p>
<p>A vulture looking youkai flew by, surrounded by a bunch of large flying insects, so Miroku unwrapped his hand to suck the youkai into the void. As the numerous bugs entered his wind tunnel, he cried out in agony and hurriedly covered the hole back up. "What the hell?" he groaned, rubbing his burning palm, as sweat dripped down his forehead.</p>
<p>Sango noticed his sudden distress, as she whirled, taking yet another youkai down with her boomerang in the process. Fending off a couple of enemies as she ran, she was at his side in a moment. "Miroku, what happened?" she cried out, staring at his suddenly pale face with concern.</p>
<p>"Behind you!" he croaked, when he managed to open his eyes at the sound of her voice. His lethal beauty promptly whirled around and took down the ogre that was rushing up on them before turning her attention to him once again.</p>
<p>"What happened to your hand?" she demanded, as she eyed the way he was gripping his wrist and shaking.</p>
<p>"I don't know. I sucked up a vulture that was surrounded by these wasps, and there was this sudden pain as they went in. I think they were poisonous or something. Just give me a moment and I think I'll be ok, since it's starting to fade a bit," Miroku gasped out.</p>
<p>"Alright. Just don't suck up them again," Sango told him firmly. Turning so her back was to him, she continued to fight, sticking close for the remainder of the battle. The number of youkai had dwindled down quite a bit, thanks to their help, and soon the last of them had been killed. Now that the danger was over, Sango turned to check on Miroku, who thankfully was looking a good bit better. "Guess we should go find the others now and then see if we can be of any more help around here."</p>
<p>Miroku nodded in agreement, and they started to head to the other side, where they could see Kirara flying in an arc quite some distance away, most likely scouting for any stragglers. As the pair started to make their way over towards her, Miroku put his hand up to stop her, when he realized that a good number of human soldiers were closing in on them. "Is it my imagination, or do they seem to be circling us?" he whispered, eyes darting back and forth nervously.</p>
<p>"Shit," Sango hissed at him, her hand instinctively twitching as she wanted to grab her weapon, but knew it was futile in this case. "Why are they surrounding us like this? We didn't summon the demons or anything!"</p>
<p>Standing back to back, the slayer and the monk glanced every which way, realizing they were completely surrounded with no escape. There were at least a couple dozen soldiers, and they had their spears pointed and ready. "Seize them!" one shouted, as the circle grew smaller.</p>
<p>"Kirara!" Inuyasha shouted, as he leapt high in the trees. His sensitive ears has picked up whispers between the soldiers in regards to capturing two of the newcomers that had provided aide, now that the youkai had all been killed off. There was commotion at the far end of the battlefield, where he noticed a large swarm of soldiers. He had seen more soldiers on his end rush towards him, bows and arrows at the ready, but he was faster than they were, and disappeared into the nearest tree before they could fire a single shot.</p>
<p>He heard Kirara roar from behind him, thankfully not too far away. Pausing on a thick branch, he turned and saw Kagome fearfully clutching her mane. Although he trusted Kirara, he needed her on his back, where he could feel her against him, for that was the safest place. Kirara flew close to him, hovering in the air, close enough for him to reach out and lift Kagome off to swing her onto his back.</p>
<p>Beneath them, he could hear the soldiers shouting loudly as they trailed them, but fortunately they were mere humans. "Kagome, hang on. Kirara, follow!" Using his leg power, he rocketed out of the tree, moving at top speed, with the cat following closely. They fled an impressive distance in a short amount of time before slowing down.</p>
<p>Kagome was in tears, when Inuyasha let her slide off of his back, turning to wrap his arms around her. "You aren't hurt, are you?" he asked her worriedly, as he checked her over for battle damage. She seemed to be ok physically, at least. The blood he could see on her kimono was most likely transferred from him, as he had been fighting down in the thick of it where things were pretty messy.</p>
<p>"They got out friends!" Kagome cried loudly. "They captured Sango and Miroku! I saw them when it happened, as soon as the fight was over, they got rushed by all of the soldiers, and there was nowhere for them to go! What's going to happen to them? Are we ever going to get out friends back?"</p>
<p>Inuyasha put his hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently. "We will get them back," he told her firmly. "I have absolutely no idea how right now, but we are going to get them back. Most likely they are just going to hold them hostage to try and lure us back, based on what I was able to pick up while I was escaping."</p>
<p>"So it's a trap?" Kagome asked him tearfully. "I saw them firing after you as well! Kirara sensed what was going on and flew me high up out of danger before you called for her. They'll kill us the second they see us, and then they'll kill our friends as well!"</p>
<p>"Then we need to make sure they don't see us," Inuyasha told her. He was feeling quite stressed, but doing his best to stay calm, so as not to make her freak out any more than she was. "I just need to think. There has to be some way we can get to them."</p>
<p>"We would need to figure out where they are being held, first," Kagome said. She was feeling sick to her stomach right now. True, their friends were more valuable alive than dead, but that didn't mean they weren't suffering at the hands of the soldiers. Tears leaked from her eyes again, as she was a bit of an emotional wreck. "We can't do all of this without them! We need them back! Not just because we don't stand a chance at finding Naraku and surviving here because we don't know what the hell we are doing or where we are going, but because they are our friends. They are good people!"</p>
<p>"I know," Inuyasha kissed her cheek, trying to comfort her. "We will have to come up with a plan."</p>
<p>"They got captured by the soldiers so easily!" Kagome cried. "They didn't even stand a chance. And we thought it was just the youkai that we had to worry about here. Apparently we just aren't safe no matter where we go, or who we help. You never know who is going to turn on you. That almost freaks me out more than the monsters. Nothing has gone right ever since we've been in this fucking place."</p>
<p>"I agree completely," Inuyasha told her solemnly. "Savage monsters, you know what you're going to get, because they're so animalistic. It's people you have to worry about more, because there's no way of knowing their true intentions. Same thing in our time."</p>
<p>Kagome wiped her tears away with frustration. "I don't know how we are going to get back there and find out where our friends are. The second they spot you, they'll try to capture or kill you, because you stand out like a beacon. I don't think there's any possible way for you to get in there undetected. I'm human though, so I could get some traditional miko clothing and show up by myself-"</p>
<p>"Absolutely not," Inuyasha cut her off, shaking his head vehemently. "Not a chance in fucking hell."</p>
<p>"But it's a much lesser risk!" Kagome exclaimed. "There are miko all over the place here, and if I wander through town by myself, without you, pretending to do miko business, that will raise far less suspicion. You can't expect me to just do nothing, while our friends are in danger!"</p>
<p>"I refuse to allow you to wander by yourself into a town full of dozens and dozen of soldiers that are out on the hunt for us. Are you fucking crazy?" Inuyasha growled at her.</p>
<p>"I'm not crazy! It just makes sense! I have powers similar to a miko as is, and could easily pull it off! I just have to get in there, maybe go to the inn, where you're most likely to hear gossip, pretend to mind my own business while I gather information, and get back out," Kagome argued back. "I can do it!"</p>
<p>"No!" Inuyasha bit back fiercely. "You act like it's so simple, but it's not! Something could go wrong, and there is a very high chance that something bad will happen, and then I won't be able to be there to protect you!"</p>
<p>"You doubt my abilities? I'm not entirely helpless and you know that!" Kagome argued back.</p>
<p>"Damn it Kagome! I don't doubt you at all. You have <em>very</em> valuable strengths, but this isn't the time to try and prove them, not like this!" Inuyasha argued hotly. "You'll wander around, pretending to do miko business? Do you even know what they do, exactly? You may have the powers of one, but you certainly haven't been officially trained as one, and should you actually need to do some kind of actual miko business, you're very likely to raise suspicion and get yourself captured. You may be human, but aside from having black hair, you don't look the least bit Japanese, and there aren't any non-natives here. While that plan <em>may</em> work, and that's a slim chance, I just can't let you risk yourself like that."</p>
<p>"I just hate feeling so fucking helpless!" Kagome argued back. Hot, fresh tears threatened to spill down her cheeks again. "I just want out friends to be saved, and finding out information on them isn't anything that involves combat. We just need somebody to get into the village and spy, and that seems like something I'm quite capable of, since I can just stick to myself and put on an act if need be. I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life if we can't save them, if we just give up on them."</p>
<p>Inuyasha tilted her chin up with a claw, so that he could stare into her teary blue eyes. "And I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life if I let you wander alone into the lion's den, and something bad happens to you, even if you do manage to make it back out. I'm not insisting that you don't proceed with your plan because I think you aren't capable or helpful, because that's so far from true it ain't funny. I'll never be able to live with myself if I lose you. You can be pissed at me all you want, but I'm not letting you do this on your own. Look, I've already lost everybody else that I've loved, and I'm not losing you too."</p>
<p>Kagome burst into tears, making Inuyasha lower his ears. Right now she was feeling too much anguish to fully comprehend what he was telling her, or trying to tell her. The stress and fear was making it almost impossible for her to think straight, but she had to admit that he was right in forbidding her to carry out that plan. "Yeah, well guess what! I can't bear the thought of losing you either! I just thought…" She had to stop speaking when hiccups made it hard to get a word out.</p>
<p>Silently, Inuyasha pulled Kagome in for a tight embrace, burying his nose deep in her hair, as he breathed her scent in deeply. She hugged him back, crying into his chest. His hands rubbed her back to soothe her, until he felt her sobs come to an end. "The worst thing we can do right now is just rush into this blindly," he told her slowly. "I mean, time is of essence, but just give me a bit to actually think and try to come up with some sort of plan to rescue them. Letting you walk in there by yourself is just not a chance we should even consider taking."</p>
<p>"I suppose you're right," Kagome managed to smile weakly up at him. Her chin was resting on his chest, and his warmth enveloped her as she held him. Despite his outward calmness, it was clear he was quite stressed himself, judging by just how tense his body and muscles were right now. "We need to come up with something, the sooner the better."</p>
<p>"We do." Inuyasha tightened his grip around her waist. "So does this mean you won't recklessly run off into the village like you said, trying to gather information?"</p>
<p>Kagome sighed. "I won't. You're right, it's just too dangerous and stupid for me to attempt something like that. There has to be a better plan out there, and I'm sure you'll come up with one, since you're good at that sort of thing. Probably from all those action movies and video games you used to play in our time."</p>
<p>"Thanks, and probably," Inuyasha leaned down kissed her lips. "I know it might be kind of impossible right now, but try to get some rest, since it's almost dark. Staying up all night worrying won't do you any good. I'm sure they are safe right now."</p>
<p>Not wanting to go to bed in the slightest, but knowing that it was the wise thing to do, Kagome reluctantly nodded. "Alright…but you need to get some sleep as well. You won't be able to come up with a decent plan if you don't rest up first, after all that fighting today."</p>
<p>"I know. I'll try," Inuyasha told her. He gave her one last squeeze before letting to to scout the area real quick before settling down together for the night. Up in the trees was going to be best, so the foliage would hide them from view in case any of the humans came wandering their direction. It took a long time for Kagome to fall asleep, and he found himself staring into the dark for quite some time, unable to easily rest his mind. It was going to be a very long night.</p>
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  <em>A/N: To answer the question in a recent review on what is the status of youkai/hanyou in the modern world, I figured I'd just post here in case anybody else was wondering as well-since pretty much everything takes place in the Feudal Era here I only kind of hinted at how it is in the future. Like in the second chapter it mentions how the lower level youkai, the ones most like animals, were pretty much poached, so it's mostly just daiyoukai in modern times I suppose. Youkai are just generally more accepted in society, which is a reason why Inuyasha didn't grow up fighting for and fearing for his life. This is why he isn't used to the discrimination of being hanyou when he ends up in this time. But of course some countries/cultures not mentioned in the story will still hate youkai/hanyou probably, because humans are not what I consider a peaceful species and always want to be at odds with somebody somewhere lol.</em>
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  <em>Anyway, appreciate all the reviews for sure! Lucydeu, Layla347, Talawolfgirl, Thenekohanyou, lavendertwilight89 I think you've reviewed like every single chapter which is awesome!</em>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Into The Trap</h2></a>
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  <em>A/N: In my goal of trying to make a realistic type of story, it's not all sunshine and butterflies in the Sengoku period. Sensitive topics and violence for a couple of chapters. Don't worry ya'll, I love nothing more than happy times and there will always be lots of happy times. Just need to throw in a few not so enjoyable chain of events here and there. Maybe I've been watching too much Game of Thrones lately.</em>
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<p>Unable to sleep, Inuyasha just lay on his back with his arms folded beneath his head, as he stared into the starry sky. Beside him, Kagome lay curled up against his side, sleeping a bit fitfully. He was too busy racking his brains on how to obtain the needed information on their friends' location, so they could formulate a rescue mission.</p>
<p>When his eyes closed briefly, he felt something hit him in the face. "What the fuck?" he grumbled, as he slapped at his nose, only to hear an indignant squeak. Golden eyes blinked as he reached for his face again, this time carefully pinching the flea demon between two claws. "Myoga? What the fuck?"</p>
<p>"You have quite the mouth, my lord," the flea demon cleared his throat. "I am quite glad I found you. Word had started to spread that the army had captured the hanyou's traveling companions, and your father and I feared the worst. You and your lady are safe and sound at least, I see."</p>
<p>"Yeah, it was our two friends that got captured earlier," Inuyasha said quietly, so as not to wake his girlfriend. "The human soldiers swarmed them after we helped defeat the youkai that were attacking their village. They didn't stand a chance. Kagome was damn lucky she was flying around on Kirara's back so she was out of their reach. We're trying to figure out how to locate them and rescue them."</p>
<p>"You're not exactly inconspicuous, and they want you as well," Myoga stated.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Which is the problem. The second I'm spotted in that village, you can pretty much guarantee they will attack me, and there's no way in hell I'll let Kagome wander in there by herself. We already had that argument earlier."</p>
<p>"Perhaps I can be of use in this situation, yes? You said you need to locate them, and I'm quite adept at leaping around undetected, particularly around humans. Get me to this village, since I'm not certain which of the two closest ones it is, and I can infiltrate it for you and see what information I can obtain. Then from there we can develop a plan," Myoga suggested.</p>
<p>Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in thought, for it was the best possible solution. "If you're willing, I think that would work quite well. What do we owe you, in exchange for you helping us?"</p>
<p>"Nothing, my lord. I serve the Great Dog Demon, and in return, I serve you, his son," Myoga said grandly.</p>
<p>"Lord," Inuyasha snorted with amusement. "I'm not used to that sort of title. But hey, if you're here to serve me, I'll take you up on it. So I just get you close and let you do your thing, and you'll find me again?"</p>
<p>"Precisely," Myoga nodded. "I can sniff out your blood rather easily. Your father's blood runs very strong through your veins. I'll report everything I learn."</p>
<p>"We'll plan on that then," Inuyasha decided. "Now, I need some rest, so we'll talk in the morning. Kirara might let you sleep in her fur if you ask her nicely. Just no sucking on any of us, especially not Kagome."</p>
<p>"Ah, you are true to your kind. Very protective," Myoga chuckled. "Very well." The round little six legged man struggled free of the claws and bounced his way to the cat, who eyed him curiously, before letting him use her tail as a bed.</p>
<p>Inuyasha rolled onto his side, draping his arm around his girlfriend, who by some miracle hadn't woken up yet. It wasn't a restful sleep, but it was better than nothing, and they both woke before daybreak. After filling her in on the plan to use Myoga as a spy, she sighed with relief. The four of them raced back towards the soldiers' village, slowing down when they reached the outskirts. to send Myoga off and then retreat.</p>
<p>Sometime in the afternoon, Myoga returned, launching himself up to land on the tip of Inuyasha's nose, much to his irritation. "Lord Inuyasha, I have located the slayer and the monk. They are being kept in a small round hut at the north end of the village."</p>
<p>"Are they alive?" Inuyasha interrupted.</p>
<p>"Yes. They look like they have been a bit roughed up. I didn't detect any poison in the slayer's blood, by the monk tastes as if he has ingested some sort of insect venom. He seemed to be doing well enough, but I wouldn't take my time in getting him out of there. I heard the soldiers say that if they catch you, they intend to bring you to the Band of Seven, preferably alive, as is Naraku's wishes. I don't know what he wants with you, but I would advise you to not try and find out."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I don't intend to find out," Inuyasha said dryly.</p>
<p>"How hard will it be to get to them? I'm sure they have guards in place," Kagome commented. She had come up to her boyfriend's side, slipping her arm into his to hold on tightly.</p>
<p>"There were a couple stationed outside the hut your companions are in," Myoga replied. "But as you know, the village is full of soldiers, so it's not just the ones on guard you have to worry about."</p>
<p>"Maybe we can create some kind of distraction, to lure them to the other side of the village, while Inuyasha gets our friends out of there," Kagome said thoughtfully. "Something like a fire?"</p>
<p>"Maybe," Inuyasha squeezed her hand. "The sooner we get them, the better. We need to act tonight." The three of them brainstormed, using Myoga's knowledge of the layout of the village and the various bits of information he had picked up from various soldiers.</p>
<p>It was an agonizing wait until nightfall, but once twilight darkened to jet black, they made their move. In the darkness of the forest, Kirara transformed as she too had a part to play in the rescue mission. Inuyasha pulled Kagome close in an embrace, kissing her forehead. "Please be safe. Just stick to the plan that we came up with and don't put yourself in danger."</p>
<p>"You be safe too," Kagome told him. She tilted her head back, gazing into his worried golden eyes. "Please. I worry when you're not at my side."</p>
<p>Inuyasha leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her for just a moment. "Kirara, make sure you fly high enough to keep her out of danger. You keep Kagome safe, you hear?"</p>
<p>The cat gave a growl in response, as she turned to glance back at him, her orange eyes staring at his. He gave the youkai cat a nod and then gave his girlfriend a boost onto the cat's back. Kagome adjusted her bow and arrows on her back. Although she wasn't going to be using them, she was going to need to keep them on her after her part was done, just in case.</p>
<p>Inuyasha had turned to gather up several torches they had made, carefully handing them to his girlfriend as she sat on Kirara, and then gave the cat a massive one to hold in her mouth. "Go!" he said coarsely, slapping the cat on the rump to send her on her way. As the two of them took to the sky, Inuyasha grabbed the remaining torches and silently sped forward. The closest edge of the village was going to be his job, and as soon as he was within enough reach, he began flinging the torches straight onto the roofs of various huts.</p>
<p>From up above, Kirara swooped across the village, dropping the massive torch onto the biggest building they saw, and then proceeded to fly around for Kagome to drop her remaining torches on other various buildings. Soon the thatch huts were roaring in flames, as Kirara sped off, making it a good way from the village before slowing to fly up into a massive tree.</p>
<p>"Thank you, Kirara. Now go find Inuyasha!" she whispered, as she shakily grabbed the branches, feeling around with her feet, as she couldn't see a thing. Her part was done, and now she was to sit and wait, per her boyfriend's strict instructions. He was to come track her down once the others had gotten to safety. "Please hurry," she whispered to nobody, once she was alone. It was going to be a long, painstaking wait.</p>
<p>Back at the village, Inuyasha was stealthily sneaking along the outskirts. It was a rather cloudy night, so the moon was completely hidden, which worked out great to their favor. His red fire rat outfit was super dark without any moonlight, and he had pulled his hair in to lay underneath the robe. A dark scarf had been tied around his head to cover up the hair on top of his head, so he was rather hard to see, as almost all of his silver hair was covered right now.</p>
<p>Their plan had worked, for there was mass chaos in the village, as everybody was running around, attempting to put the fires out and rescue those that were trapped. There was one guard at the hut that contained their captured friends. Inuyasha snuck up behind the guard, swiftly tackling him and knocking him unconscious, so that he could slip inside.</p>
<p>He had come to terms with having to kill various youkai, but he wasn't anything remotely close to a murderer, and had no desire to kill a human unless it came to the point his life, or Kagome's life, depended on it. He would do anything to ensure her safety, and he worried about her for a moment before focusing on the task at hand.</p>
<p>The only occupants of the hut were Sango and Miroku, so he rushed straight to them. Inuyasha had grabbed a dagger from the guard he had knocked out moments earlier, as he figured it would be useful to have. He was right, for he noticed that they were both gagged and bound up with rope. Tessaiga in its untransformed state didn't look like it could cut paper, so he grabbed his newly acquired dagger and started to carefully slice through the ropes.</p>
<p>"Inuyasha!" Sango cried, as she looked up at him, once he removed the cloth gag from her mouth. Her eyes darted to the side a moment later. "Kirara!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha glanced over as the tiny two-tailed cat scampered into the hut, transforming once she made it to their side. "I trust you put Kagome somewhere safe?" he asked tersely. Kirara replied with her affirmative growl. "Good girl." With Sango cut free, he started to work on Miroku's ropes. The monk seemed a bit more out of it than Sango, but at least he was awake and alert.</p>
<p>"How did you find us?" Sango asked. Now that she was free, she rubbed her sore wrists as she cautiously peered out the doorway, trying to make sense of what was going on outside.</p>
<p>"A flea helped. We can chat later. Let's get you all out of here before somebody else comes running here to check on you two," Inuyasha said grimly. He pulled them both to their feet, happy to notice they were each capable of standing, although Miroku started to fall and had to be caught by Sango. "What's wrong with him?"</p>
<p>"He sucked poison wasps into his wind tunnel when we were on the battlefield. He's been doing better but it's taking him a while to recover," Sango replied. "Can you hold him while I get on Kirara and then help him get up behind me? Miroku, are you going to be able to hang on to me?"</p>
<p>"I'll always be able to hang on to you. Anytime you want," Miroku grinned widely, making the slayer roll her eyes at him.</p>
<p>"Get on," Inuyasha sighed, using his hand for Miroku to step on so he could give the monk a boost onto the giant cat. In his daze, he almost slid off of the other side, but saved himself by wrapping his arms around Sango.</p>
<p>"Wait, where is Hiraikotsu? And your staff?" Sango exclaimed, glancing around the hut wildly. It was pretty much bare in here, and she didn't see the giant boomerang anywhere.</p>
<p>"I heard them say something about taking our weapons to the blacksmith, to maybe see if he could sell or trade them," Miroku chimed in.</p>
<p>"Inuyasha, do you think you can find the weapons? Hiraikotsu is no ordinary weapon and I'll never be able to find another one like it, with my clan destroyed," Sango pleaded. "I'm only so much of a warrior without my main weapon."</p>
<p>"Fucking hell," Inuyasha swore. This was not part of the plan. He hadn't even thought about the weapons their friends carried, nor the fact that they may have been taken away. "Fine, I'll try and do what I can, and hopefully we didn't set them on fire. You three get out of here!"</p>
<p>As Kirara raced out the door, the two humans on her back, Inuyasha crept out, sticking to the shadows, as he tried to hunt down their weapons. If that damn boomerang hadn't actually been such a unique weapon, he would have told her to forget about it. A couple of soldiers raced by in front of him, making him duck down behind some crates for a second, until they passed. In the distance, the fires were still blazing, as they struggled to put them out.</p>
<p>Doing his best to peer around, he soon spotted what looked like some kind of forge. "That has to be the blacksmith," he muttered under his breath, as he prepared to dart across a wide open section. Nobody was around, so creeping low to the ground, he made a beeline for the shop. Hiraikotsu was easy to spot, but it took a few for him to find the staff. Knowing that it was a holy weapon, he was a bit nervous about picking it up, but it didn't seem to cause any ill effect.</p>
<p>'<em>Great, now it's time to get the fuck out of here,'</em> Inuyasha thought, as he gripped the weapons under an arm, to securely hold them. He paused to peer outside and saw that some soldiers had returned, and were running around, peering into the various buildings. He bit back a snarl, cursing to himself silently, for why did everything always have to get screwed up?</p>
<p>Once the humans cleared away, Inuyasha started to sneak out. He could detect a few people nearby, so he was going to have to be really careful. As he started to creep away, towards the row of buildings on the edge of the village, there was a loud crackle, as something exploded directly in front of him.</p>
<p>Thick smoke immediately surrounded Inuyasha, making him cough and gag horribly. His eyes were burning so bad he literally could not open them, and his throat felt like it was swelling shut. He could scarcely breathe or do anything at the moment, with his mind going fuzzy. Then out of nowhere, something slammed into his side, knocking him flat on the ground, the weapons being flung out of his grasp.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, back in the tree, Kagome was wringing her hands nervously. It seemed like it was taking a long time for Inuyasha to get back to her. Wasn't he supposed to run in, grab them, and get to safety? Maybe it was just her nerves not being able to keep track of time. He was strong and stealthy, and she had her faith in him. She just wished time would fly by a little faster.</p>
<p>Eventually she detected some youkai, making her head snap up. It wasn't Inuyasha's youkai, but it was familiar, and a moment later, Kirara flew to her branch. "Kirara!" she cried out, when she saw the cat had some smeared blood on her pale yellow fur. "Where's Inuyasha?" Kirara just let out a cry, making her heart sink. "Where are the others? Are they safe?"</p>
<p>Obviously Kirara couldn't talk, so Kagome didn't waste a moment to jump onto the flying cat's back. "Take me to them!" She was trying hard not to cry, for she knew something was very, very wrong. Without actually examining the cat, she couldn't tell if the blood belonged to her or one of the others. Gripping the thick mane tightly, she closed her eyes and hung on, as the cat flew towards a sheer cliff face, before swooping down to a shallow cave.</p>
<p>No sooner had the cat's feet touched the ground, did Kagome leap from her back to rush to the two prone figures. She could see blood on both of them, little tiny cuts all over. "Sango! Miroku!" she cried out, as she dropped to their sides. They were both alive, but bloodied up. Miroku seemed to be worse off though, for he was shaking and sweating.</p>
<p>Trying not to panic, she put a hand on each of her friend's as she sat there with eyes closed, drawing upon her healing powers. It was extremely difficult for her to concentrate, for Inuyasha was not here, and that was a very, very bad sign. Sango began to stir first, so when she was well off enough, Kagome put both hands on Miroku to concentrate on him.</p>
<p>"Sango, what happened?" Kagome cried out. "Where is Inuyasha?"</p>
<p>Sango winced as she struggled to sit up. Her entire body ached a bit, from being tied up uncomfortably for so long, to being attacked as they escaped. "I'm not exactly sure what happened when we tried to escape…" her voice was thick, and it took some effort for her to speak. Whatever she had breathed in after they had flown off, had made her extremely woozy. "Inuyasha…they managed to knock Inuyasha out…I think they got him."</p>
<p>"No!" Kagome screamed, bursting into tears. "Noooooooo!" As sobs wracked her body, she began to hyperventilate, her mind picturing all sorts of devastating outcomes. He was her world, the one who drove her crazy like no other, the one who protected her fiercely, and the one she was realizing she had come to love. She had to find a way to save him somehow. Otherwise she would never be able to go on.</p>
<p>"Kagome," Sango said tearfully, as she wrapped her arms around her friend in a tight hug. She had absolutely no idea what to say to her right now.</p>
<p>"We need to go get him!" Kagome screamed, as she managed to get to her feet clumsily. "We have to figure out how to go save him! They'll kill him! They want him the most! They kept you two alive because they were using you as bait, to draw us in, and we fell for it! They want us dead!" She continued her screaming rant as Sango did her best to calm her down, failing miserably.</p>
<p>Eventually Kagome's cries began to subside, when she realized that she was going to be no help in her current state of mind. If they were going to figure out a way to rescue Inuyasha, they needed a plan. Feeling shaky, Kagome managed to rise to her feet. "I'm going to the stream. I need some more water right now before I pass out, and I need a moment to think."</p>
<p>Stalking away from the cave with determination, she made her way towards the stream the spotted earlier. After splashing her face with the cool water, to try and calm herself down, she stared into the rippling reflection she was making. The little bit of moonlight was making the water sparkle, and gave off just enough light to make out her general features.</p>
<p>The sudden rustle of leaves made Kagome whirl around in a panic. She had been so caught up in her grief, that she hadn't sensed the jewel shard that this man was carrying until now. A young man stumbled out from the path, dropping down to collapse at the base of a tree. "Help me!" he pleaded.</p>
<p>"What's wrong with you?" Kagome asked, eyeing him cautiously. With everything that had gone down in the past day, she was quite leery at being approached by anybody in this general vicinity.</p>
<p>The man coughed as he struggled to push himself up to a sitting position, wincing painfully in the process. "I was attacked by bandits on the road, just a short while ago. I'm a traveling doctor, and it seems they wanted all the herbs and medicines I was carrying. They stabbed me, and left me for dead. I have a few bandages on me, but I can't bear the sight of looking at all this blood. Can you help me, please!"</p>
<p>Kagome shifted nervously, as she eyed him. The man was dressed in a simple brown kosode with blue hakama, no actual armor or weapons on him. He very much looked like the traveling merchants and villagers here in this time, but one could never be too sure.</p>
<p>However, he wasn't faking his injuries, for she could see the fresh blood on his side, where the kosode had a hole from whatever he was stabbed with. When he pleaded for her help again, she bit her lip and then slowly stepped forward. The fact that the jewel shard he had in his possession was of utmost purity was the main reason she decided to trust him and provide him with some aid. That wasn't something that could be faked.</p>
<p>"Thank you," the man gasped, as Kagome squatted down and took the bandages he handed to her.</p>
<p>"No problem. I'm a healer myself, so you got lucky you came across just the right person," Kagome told him. As she got to work, she curiously eyed the small leather pouch on a string around his neck that contained the shard. Although she wanted to ask him what he was doing, carrying around a shard like that, she also didn't want to make him aware that she could sense it.</p>
<p>They chatted a bit as she used her healing powers on him, and he quickly gave her the impression that he really was just a good honest fellow. They talked about his passion for saving others, especially young children. He had none of his own, for he never married, as he was a wanderer by nature. Settling down just wasn't something he ever saw himself doing, not when he could roam from village to village, tending to the ill and saving as many lives as possible.</p>
<p>It was taking longer to heal him than it should, for Kagome had already been in a state of complete mental exhaustion before she had even began. Still, she was stubborn and couldn't leave an innocent man to die. "You must have been poisoned, too, when they stabbed you," she commented, as she continued sitting there with her hands at his side. Stopping the bleeding had been her main priority, but as she got that taken care of, she was pretty sure that the stab wouldn't wasn't his only problem. "I can take care of that, too, though. Just relax."</p>
<p>"Ok. Thank you," he told her, letting his head fall back against the tree as he closed his eyes. "I'm feeling much better already."</p>
<p>"Good. I'm glad," Kagome said. Turning her gaze to her own hands, she simply stared at them for a bit as she worked, before letting her own eyes fall shut as well, as if she were in meditation. It was easier to concentrate that way right now.</p>
<p>A couple of minutes later, her eyes flashed wide open when she felt her wrist being grabbed rather roughly. "I said, I'm feeling better," he told her. This time as he spoke, his voice was deeper, and lacked the kindly tone it held earlier.</p>
<p>"Ok! Great! I'll stop!" Kagome squeaked out, staring at him with wide eyes, for she was entirely confused as to his sudden shift in demeanor. Instead of letting go of her wrist, he twisted it to the side, making her cry out. "I said I'll stop!" she yelped, suddenly feeling a bit fearful. The man that was sitting in front of her right now was no longer the sweet, caring man that she had originally knelt down to help. His eyes had darkened and now held a cold look to them. It also looked as if green stripes were starting to appear on his face.</p>
<p>"Who are you? Let go of me!" Kagome yelled, now in a full blown panic, as she tried to pull herself away from him.</p>
<p>It was to of no avail, for he easily held onto her with one hand, an evil scowl forming on his face. "Name's Suikotsu. And I just can't do that. However, I do want to thank you for whatever it was that you did to me, that helped subdue that damn doctor. Now the real me is out and hear to stay."</p>
<p>"What? No! Let go of me! Help!" Kagome screamed, as she tried to fight with all of her might. It was futile, for he was way too strong for her.</p>
<p>Suikotsu let out a long, low laugh. "Nobody's coming to help you. You're coming with me." With one easy movement, he pinned her to the ground, straddling her to keep her arms and legs still, as he grabbed a cloth from his sleeves and covered her face with it. Whatever it was soaked in stunk, and within moments, she was unconscious.</p>
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<p>When Kagome eventually came to, she found herself laying on the dirt. Her entire body ached, and felt too stiff to move, so she just lay there for a bit, tears running out of the corners of her eyes. When she found the strength to move, she started to slide her arms up, only to feel heavy restraints. Panic flowed through her body once again, as she stared wild-eyed at the shackles around her wrists. Her ankles felt heavy as well, and she realized they also had shackles on them.</p>
<p>"Where the fuck am I?" she yelped, in sheer panic, as she glanced all around. Must be the soldier's village, judging by the number of burnt buildings. Their plan had seemingly worked up to a point, but then it must have gone horribly wrong somehow. "Where is Inuyasha?"</p>
<p>"Hey, Tiro, the little bitch is awake," came a raspy voice from behind her. Kagome managed to twist around a bit, to get a look at who spoke. It was just some random soldier, leering at her with his arms crosses as he sat on a wooden crate, sharpening his sword. "Think she's asking where the hanyou filth is." He turned and spat at her general direction. "Youkai whore."</p>
<p>"I'm no whore," Kagome snarled, instant rage taking over, when they referenced her boyfriend. "Where is he?"</p>
<p>"You'll see him soon enough," the man snickered at her. "We've got a little surprise planned for your reunion."</p>
<p>"Don't you dare hurt him!" Kagome screamed, which made the two men laugh.</p>
<p>"Don't you dare hurt him," the one that must be named Tiro mocked at her. "What are you gonna do if we do decide to hurt him? Huh? Not much you can do all chained up like that! We should experiment and see which body parts grow back!" They laughed, and her stomach started to twist.</p>
<p>Eventually some other soldiers showed up, roughly hauling her to her feet as they dragged her away. Various soldiers were standing about, cheering over something. Kagome found herself dragged towards a small crowd, which parted as she was strung along. She was then shoved so that she fell down onto the ground, barely catching herself with her hands.</p>
<p>Completely bewildered and terrified, Kagome was in tears as she lifted her head, to see a very familiar figure chained up just a short distance from her. Her heart immediately caught in her throat as she stared at the long silver hair, which was streaked with dark red blood. He had his head hanging down right now, as he knelt in front of her with both hands tied behind his back. Even the fire rat robe had splotches of bloodstains on it.</p>
<p>"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed out, and then cried out in agony when a foot kicked her in the ribs. At the sound of her voice, Inuyasha lifted his head, his eyes a bit unfocused, as he stared at her.</p>
<p>"Alright, don't rough her up too much. We still want her to look pretty for a bit," a gruff voice spoke.</p>
<p>"Shall I give the halfblooded another dosage, now that the previous one is wearing off?" croaked a short fat man. Kagome stared up at him, feeling completely freaked out. He had a bulbous face with black eyes and strange markings. For some reason he reminded her of a toad, although he appeared to be a human.</p>
<p>The gruff voice spoke again, and it seemed to belong to one of the soldiers here, that was up in rank somewhere. "Not now, Mukotsu. I want him to witness this. As long as he's still subdued enough, that's all that matters."</p>
<p>"Well, if you're not going to drug him up anymore, and you only care about the bitch looking pretty, then we still get to have our fun with him in other ways, right?" a huge, muscular man with teal hair asked loudly, as he strode towards Inuyasha, giving him a swift kick in the chest. Inuyasha tried to snarl as he choked, doubling over from having the wind knocked out of him.</p>
<p>"Leave him alone!" Kagome screamed, as tears rolled down her cheeks. She glanced around, eyes darting back and forth, looking at the massive crowd of soldiers circled around them. Her eyes widened when she spotted a vaguely familiar face. "You! You're the one who knocked me out!"</p>
<p>"Orders," Suikotsu grinned at her evilly.</p>
<p>The one that kicked Inuyasha turned to her, his huge mouth opening wide as he laughed. He was just as creepy as the round toad like little man. Both of them appeared human, but had jewel shards as well, she sensed. Her eyes widened as she thought of the shards they had already collected, which had been left behind in the bag. Hopefully it was still with Sango and Miroku, and hopefully they were ok as well.</p>
<p>"Oh, does this bother you?" he cackled, before turning back to Inuyasha and raising his foot again.</p>
<p>"DON'T!" Kagome screamed even louder, for she couldn't bear the sight of seeing Inuyasha being beaten before her. It was heartbreaking to watch, and she sobbed, struggling to break free from her chains. If she could rush over and protect him, she would.</p>
<p>"Tell you what," he told her, cracking his knuckled, after delivering another blow to Inuyasha. "You keep your mouth shut, and stop blubbering, and I'll stop attacking him. When you cry like that, you're really ugly, and we don't want ugly. Now shut up!"</p>
<p>Inuyasha raised his head, which felt like it was splitting in two. There was the taste of his own blood in his mouth, and he was quite certain he had a few broken bones right now. He was aware that Kagome had been captured and was sitting in front of him, which made his blood boil with rage, but he was having a very hard time reacting physically at the moment. It was like his muscles were sluggish and uncooperative, to the point that any movement at all involved great effort. All he could really do was lift his head.</p>
<p>Wordlessly, Inuyasha stared at his girlfriend. He had never felt more sick to his stomach in his entire life. This was his greatest fear, and it was becoming reality. He had endured torture for who knew how long now, and while she looked mostly unharmed for the moment, he knew it wouldn't be that way for long.</p>
<p>The one called Mukotsu, who smelled like the poison that he had been drugged with, stepped forward until he was just a couple feet away. Inuyasha snarled low in his throat as he glared up at the fat old man, wishing he could just take him out in a single swipe right now. His gross, wide lips parted, revealing rotting old teeth. "Looks like we've got both of the ones we were sent here to capture and kill. Things didn't go as according to plan, but we got what we wanted in the end. I thought we would only get the half-breed, but our dear brother Suikotsu proved to be of immeasurable value in capturing its whore as well. Although, I deserve credit for his success as well, for it was my medicine coating the knife we stabbed him with, that was able to fully suppress the bloodthirsty killer half of him."</p>
<p>Inuyasha growled, as struggled to get free, to no avail. "Our leader promised us great reward if we bring him your heads. So we are going to do just that, but first, we are going to take our own reward first. We are going to kill both of you, but I think we'll start with the bitch first." He paused, and laughed loudly at Inuyasha, who was starting to struggle a bit, as his rage started to pump adrenaline throughout his body.</p>
<p>"I think the dog is getting angry at that." Inuyasha snarled as the huge man that stunk of death dropped to his knee, grabbing him by the hair, and twisting his head back. "Good. It makes me happy to know he disapproves so heartily." Inuyasha was snarling as the giant man stared him in the eye. "Just so you know, we're going to kill her. Very, very slowly. But don't worry, we aren't going to kill her yet. Not while she is still alive, and warm, and her body can still provide us all with some pleasure first. I'll take her first, as a reward for being the one to take the dog down first, with my bombs and poisons."</p>
<p>He released Inuyasha's hair, laughing loudly as he stood up. Inuyasha was immediately enraged, lurching against his restraints as best as he could. <em>"Don't you fucking dare!"</em> he snarled loudly. It was to no avail, for the poison was still in his system, preventing him from breaking free and rescuing Kagome. This was pure hell on Earth to him, and the soldiers were all laughing as he snarled and his girlfriend sobbed.</p>
<p>As Inuyasha stared at Kagome in utter despair, his entire body shook with rage as he watched them rip her kimono down, leaving it bunched around her waist where the obi was tied. Fortunately she still had her bra on underneath it. Mukotsu had already dropped his pants and began jerking off in front of her face, as she cried and screamed out for him to do something, to somehow save her. There was nothing he could do right now, for as hard as he tried to break free, he didn't have the strength at the moment to do so.</p>
<p>When Mukotsu took another step towards his girlfriend, reaching out to grab her, as he had declared he would get the first go at her, Inuyasha's vision suddenly went red.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Red</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <em>A/N: I’m pretty sure you can guess what the main warning for this chapter would be, based on the last sentence of the last chapter. I know this one is long but I couldn't figure out a good place to break it up evenly.</em>
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Kagome was busy screaming and thrashing as best as she could, crying out for Inuyasha at the top of her lungs, after the other one made the announcement they were all going to have their way with her. She felt sheer terror hit her, for she was tied up and helpless. Even so, she wasn’t going to just give in without a fight, no matter how futile her efforts would be. So she struggled as hard as she could, despite being roped up and held down. The one called Mukotsu, that was putting on a show of jerking off in front of her, was right there in front of her face. Keeping her eyes shut, she refused to look at him. His nasty junk was the last thing she wanted to see.</p><p>Her throat was raw from screaming, but that only seemed to amuse the soldiers circled around her. They were cheering and laughing, shouting over who would get to go next. Mukotsu took a step closer to her, his gross mouth in a wide grin, showing the huge gaps between his uneven teeth. “And now!” he announced loudly, making the random shouting die down a bit. “I’ve always wanted a woman of my own. Never thought I’d find such a pretty one either. I can’t make any promises that she will still be as pretty by the time I’m done with her, though.” He let out a long laugh, which also made the surrounding soldiers laugh as well.</p><p>“Look at me, girl!” Mukotsu commanded, turning his attention back to Kagome, who was a sobbing mess. He frowned when she refused to obey his command. It angered him. Taking another step closer, he grabbed her by the hair at the back of her head and forced her to raise her face to him. “I said, look at me!”</p><p>Kagome glared up at him, tears pricking her eyes at the sharp pain of having her hair yanked like that. As hideous as his face was, she made herself stare at him, for she didn’t want to see any other exposed parts of his body. </p><p>Squinty eyes blinked back at her, as he scowled at the look on her face. “Do I disgust you that much? Maybe I should have Ginta here gouge your eyes out for me first. Although, then you wouldn’t be able to watch and see what we have planned for that half-breed here. Maybe it’s better for you to just be on all fours when I take you so I don’t have to look at that ugly expression. You’re just like every other woman,” Mukotsu spat with disgust. “Get down.”</p><p>Kagome screamed out Inuyasha’s name again as she managed to catch herself with her fists as she fell forward onto the hard-packed earth, begging for help. One of the soldiers standing behind him laughed and reached over to poke him with the end of his spear. “The dog half-breed is going to have to watch his whore get fucked like a dog. Fitting, isn’t it?” he cackled loudly and leaned in down towards Inuyasha. “She’s nothing but a dog’s whore.” He laughed again before pausing and frowning deep. “You all hear something? Quiet!”</p><p>There was a good bit of commotion just from the excitement of capturing the pair, so it took a moment for the sea of voices to die down a bit. Mukotsu had paused from trying to rile everybody up, and turned to face the captive Inuyasha. Even Kagome, sensing that something was going on, managed to catch her breath and glance up between two hiccuped sobs.</p><p>Everybody was staring at Inuyasha, who was still kneeling with his head hanging forward. His posture had changed however, and Kagome could see the tenseness that was forming. It took a moment for her ears to pick it up, but she swore she heard growling. The sound of the growl quickly began to intensify. A split second later, there was a loud snap as Inuyasha broke free of his restraints with one easy movement and thrust his clawed hand straight through the torso of the nearest soldier, the one that had been leaning down towards him mere seconds ago.</p><p>As the newly dead man dropped down to the ground in a pool of blood, there was a sudden uproar as everybody began to realize just what had happened. In complete shock, Kagome just sat there with her mouth open, staring at Inuyasha. She only caught a split second look at his face, but it was enough for her to tell she could hardly recognize him. </p><p>His pretty golden eyes that she loved to stare into had turned completely bright blood red, and large jagged purple stripes had appeared on each cheek. Even his fangs had enlarged quite a bit, revealed by the twisted snarl that his mouth was in. Being so in tune to his youki, she could sense a significant difference in the way it felt and was flaring up right now.</p><p>“Get your weapons ready, now! Seize him!” Mukotsu yelled at the top of his lungs, as he hurriedly grabbed for the front of his hakama in an attempt to pull them up, while his spare hand reached into his sleeve to retrieve some sort of smoke bomb. He promptly flung it straight at Inuyasha, where it erupted into a small explosion, but it was all too slow. Before it had hit the ground where he was standing, Inuyasha had lurched forward, and in the blink of an eye, Mukotsu’s head rolled across the ground right in front of Kagome.</p><p>Immediately, mass chaos broke out, as the soldiers grabbed their weapons, in effort to swarm Inuyasha. It took Kagome a moment to even process what had just happened, she was in so much shock. She simply sat there with eyes wide as she stared at the severed head with wide unseeing eyes that was only a few feet away.</p><p>Although there were dozens or hundreds of soldiers, and only one violently rampaging hanyou, if that was what he even was anymore, numbers were quickly proving to not be enough. The red of Inuyasha’s fire rat robe was a mere blur, as he cut through the lines of soldiers, using his razor sharp claws to take them all down. Kagome was now quaking with terror, forgotten in the turmoil, so she crawled on all fours towards a wagon, where she sought shelter underneath. </p><p>All around her, screaming soldiers did their best to attempt to fight back against Inuyasha, but he was far too fast and powerful. The soldiers quickly went from offense to defense, turning tail to run off while Inuyasha continued slaughtering them all. There were limbs and heads everywhere, and the scent of blood was so think in the air, that it actually made Kagome throw up. She was sobbing, not just from the entire ordeal from earlier, but from the massacre that was taking place around her.</p>
<hr/><p>Inuyasha crouched down on all fours, snarling loudly, before launching himself forward at a soldier on a horse that was galloping towards him. With both clawed hands, he shredded the man’s chest wide open and gouged out the throat of the horse, sending the two of them down in a bloody pile. His arms were completely soaked in blood, almost up to his shoulders at this point, having slaughtered so many living things. The scent of all the blood was driving him completely wild, fueling his desire to kill everything in sight.</p><p>His entire body was burning hot, as if his blood was on fire from his toes to his ears. A fine sheen of sweat coated his skin, keeping the blood from drying, and making him feel hot and stuffy inside his fire rat robe. There was no time to stop and undress, not when there was still so much prey around.</p><p>Sudden movement off to the far right caught his eye, and he twirled around mid-leap, to charge at the small group that was throwing spears at his direction. He leapt up and down onto the one in the middle, snapping his neck upon impact before turning to take out the two soldiers to his left with his claws. As the other two screamed and ran off, Inuyasha grinned and leapt up to land in front of them to cut them off. The blood of two more men stained his claws as they met their end when he disemboweled them.</p><p>As soon as he slayed the small group, he found himself engaging in battle with another opponent. Although this man was alone, he was much stronger than the other soldiers he had taken down. He looked distinctly different as well, with his hair spiked up and large green stripes on his face. Each of his hands was adorned with blades, far longer than Inuyasha’s claws. The man was shouting at him, but Inuyasha could barely make out what he was saying, as the pressure of his blood was making his head pound. </p><p>The other man’s claws or blades weren’t just for show, and he even managed to get a good long swipe in at Inuyasha’s chest, as they traded blows, shredding open the fire rat robe along with the flesh underneath. He felt no pain though, only fury at being caught off guard. With a most vicious snarl, he moved in close, taking more damage from the steel blades before he managed to slice the man’s throat open from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him.</p><p>Taking a moment to catch his breath, for all the adrenaline was making his heart and lungs race unnaturally fast, Inuyasha took a moment to survey the landscape, looking for any sign of life that needed to be put to an end. Killing had never felt so wonderful and pleasurable before, and it was all he wanted to do. </p>
<hr/><p>Something hit Kagome in the eyelid, as she was laying in the fetal position, eyes tightly shut and hands on her ears, in attempt to drown out the horrifying sounds of what was going on all around her. When it hit her again, she cracked her eyes, blinking when she saw something tiny jump in front of her face. It was that damn flea that liked to show up from time to time.</p><p>“Kagome!” a thin voice piped, as he leapt up again, waving all six limbs frantically. “You need to stop Inuyasha!”</p><p>“How do I stop him? What the hell even happened to him anyway?” Kagome managed to gasp out, as her hyperventilating had died down a bit from her laying there. Her eyes darted to the battlefield that the village had become. There were far fewer alive soldiers now, and she could hear their horrible, guttural screams in the distance.</p><p>“His youkai blood has fully taken over,” Myoga explained. “It can happen to a hanyou, in times of life or death situations. The demon blood takes over the human blood for self-preservation.”</p><p>“We were both chained up and the soldiers were threatening to kill us both,” Kagome informed him. “But he didn’t change into…that form…until this creepy man called Mukotsu was getting ready to rape me. Then Inuyasha just snapped…and…”</p><p>Myoga blinked at the girl, as it all made sense to him now. The two of them hadn’t become a mated pair quite yet, but it was very likely that it would happen someday, if Inuyasha’s blood reacted in such a way from his woman being in danger. “I see. Well, it’s extremely urgent that you get him to transform back to his usual self. I assume he did not have Tessaiga on him when he turned?”</p><p>Kagome blinked, as she tried to recall the image in her mind, of her love sitting there all battered and broken. “I…I don’t think so…I wasn’t exactly looking to see if his sword was on him though. It wasn’t exactly my biggest concern at the time. Why does it even matter, anyway?”</p><p>“Tessaiga is the key to bringing him back to a hanyou again. Get the sword and the sheath to him and that will help bring him out of this state. The longer he remains like this, the more danger he is in of losing himself to his youkai blood completely. His mind and body won’t be able to sustain that state forever and it will eventually break him. The body of a hanyou simply can not handle the blood of a full youkai, no matter how strong they may be,” Myoga informed her.</p><p>“Oh, that’s fucking great,” Kagome mumbled. She turned her head again, trying to look around and see if there was any danger, but she mostly just saw mutilated bodies, which instantly made her sick. Torn between curling up in a ball to die and not have to face the carnage, and forcing herself out there to find her boyfriend’s sword so that she may save him from himself, she chose the latter. There was no way that she would be able to just sit idly by, when he needed her help so urgently.</p><p>Having absolutely no idea where to look, Kagome just scurried around, doing her best not to get close to the dead bodies, which was almost impossible. She felt so sick, and was having a near impossible time keeping it down. How was she supposed to find one sword in all of this mess? At least the sword was basically useless in its untransformed state, so it was quite unlikely that a soldier had carried it with them in hopes of using it. Most likely it was left sitting around somewhere.</p><p>“To the left!” Myoga shouted, as he bounced on her shoulder. The flea sensed the youkai pulse coming from an open shed. With her hand clapped firmly over her mouth, Kagome stumbled to her left, following the flea’s orders, until she was under the roof of the building. She found the sword still in its sheath, propped in a corner, so she grabbed it and hurried out. “Now find Inuyasha and give it to him,” the flea ordered, as if it were that easy.</p><p>Kagome glanced around, not seeing anybody alive within line of sight. There was screaming in the distance, and she could detect Inuyasha’s youkai in that same direction, so she started to run towards it, as she was being reminded once again by the flea that time was of the essence. She was still quite terrified though, because with Inuyasha being possessed by his youkai side, he might not recognize her and attack her too. Perhaps she could just get close and throw the sword at him?</p><p>The screaming came to a sudden stop. Inuyasha’s youkai was rapidly getting stronger, so most likely they were heading towards each other. Kagome swallowed hard, eyes darting back and forth rapidly to scan the landscape. As she came around a corner, she was greeted by the sight of her boyfriend standing in the midst of three dead soldiers, their blood dripping from his claws.</p><p>As she stopped short, eyes wide with terror, Inuyasha whirled around to face her, his face twisted in a nasty snarl. Then he pounced straight at her. Kagome shrieked as she was knocked backwards, flat on her back, from the impact of her larger, heavier boyfriend. He had grabbed her shoulders and went down with her, pinning her on her back.</p><p>“Inuyasha, it’s me!” Kagome cried out, her own eyes wide as she stared into Inuyasha’s, which were solid red with a tiny turquoise pupil. His mouth was open and fangs bared at her, as he growled lowly. It was like he didn’t recognize her, or even see her, but he hadn’t attacked her upon impact. Growling loudly, his nose twitched as he lowered his head, burying his nose against the side of her neck.</p><p>“It’s me, Inuyasha. It’s Kagome,” she whispered. Right now her heart was racing a mile a minute, for she had no idea if he was going to suddenly flip and tear her throat out. Her head was pushed back as he pressed his face against her neck, sniffing her loudly, as his hands continued to pin her arms to the ground. Tessaiga was still in her hand at least, but she couldn’t move her arm, so she was currently helpless.</p><p>A strangled cry escaped Kagome’s mouth when she felt a sudden sharp prick on her neck, along with a good amount of pressure. She automatically tried to struggle, but Inuyasha was too strong. Her eyes were wide as she realized that he had bitten her neck and his fangs had pierced her skin. “Inuyasha, what are you doing?” she cried out, her voice shaky, as she tried to push him off to no avail.</p><p>The only response Kagome got was a low growl, as he pinned her down with his fangs at her neck. Afraid to move, for that would just injure her further, Kagome lay there as still as could be, trying to ignore the bit of pain. When Inuyasha let go of her hand that held Tessaiga, as he moved to roughly grab at her breast, she seized the opportunity to quickly slam the sword down onto his back.</p><p>Tessaiga pulsed when it came into contact with Inuyasha, and he pulled away from Kagome’s neck, staring at her in confusion. The red in his eyes was slowly fading, as they turned back to their normal color. She was glad to see that the sword was able to reverse his transformation just from touching him. Thankfully the flea had been right.</p><p>Inuyasha was rapidly becoming a mental wreck, as he realized he had absolutely no memory of what had just happened. It was like he had blacked out, and he could vaguely remember being tied up and beaten in front of his girlfriend. She was laying beneath him, with blood smeared on her neck, and he could taste her blood in his mouth. </p><p>The scent of blood overwhelmed his nostrils, and his heart all but stopped when he saw how soaked his hands and forearms were, for he couldn’t even see his skin tone. Blood was all around them, and as his gaze moved from Kagome to his surroundings, he was struck by horror at the sight of the piles of mutilated bodies.</p><p>Glancing from his dangerously clawed hands to all of the bodies, Inuyasha began to panic, as he realized he was very likely the one responsible for the slaughter. “What…happened…?” he cried out, leaping away from Kagome as if she stung him. His mind started to spin, and he felt like vomiting right then and there, out of sheer disgust. With his body reverting back to it’s regular hanyou state, he was starting to feel the agony from the intensity of his numerous wounds.</p><p>Kagome had slowly pushed herself to sit upright, putting a hand to her neck, making sure she wasn’t bleeding too bad. Poor Inuyasha had recoiled from her, and was crouched down, shaking like a terrified cornered animal. He looked horrified, and she knew that he didn’t have any recollection of what just happened.</p><p>“Did I do this? Stay right there!” Inuyasha pleaded with her, backing up a foot when she tried to get to her feet. “Stay away from me right now!”</p><p>“It’s ok, Inuyasha, you transformed into a full youkai. I brought you back with Tessaiga. According to Myoga, it was needed to make you turn back to normal again, and it worked as soon as you touched it. Here, take your sword,” Kagome cautiously pushed the sword along the ground, to give it back to Inuyasha, who snatched it up and secured it on his hip.</p><p>“What did I do?” Inuyasha’s voice was breaking, as he stared at his claws again, before frantically trying to wipe his hands off on his hakama. They were just as blood stained, so it did absolutely nothing. “I did this, didn’t I???”</p><p>“Yes,” Kagome answered quietly, which made him buck a bit in horror. </p><p>“But why? Why the fuck would I go crazy and kill everybody like that?” Inuyasha’s face was twisted a bit as he gave Kagome an agonized look. “Why? What the fuck is wrong with me?”</p><p>“You were trying to protect me, I think,” Kagome began, doing her best to keep her voice steady to calm him down. “We were tied up in front of each other, and the bad guys started talking about taking turns having their way with me. Then the creepy one that looked like a toad dropped his pants in front of me and that’s when you flipped and turned youkai. You broke free a second later…”</p><p>Inuyasha sucked his breath in, snapping his head to stare hard at Kagome. He had a look of pure terror on his face, and shifted as if he wanted to get closer to her, but instead froze up. “Did they…did they do anything to you?”</p><p>Kagome shook her head. “They didn’t touch me. You transformed just in time, so they all went to fight you and take you down again, and just forgot about me. I crawled away to hide.”</p><p>That brought some comfort to Inuyasha, but not enough to overcome the horror at his actions. In a daze, he managed to get to his feet. “I need to go. I need to just go.” He was gone in an instant, doing his best to leap from building to building, to stay off of the ground. All Kagome could do was stare at his retreating figure, as she dropped her head in her hands and burst into sobs.</p><p>That was how Sango discovered the poor girl, when she arrived on Kirara’s back a while later. “Kagome!” the slayer cried out, as she tumbled off of the giant cat, dropping down next to her. “Kagome, what happened here?”</p><p>Kagome lifted her head, wiping her eyes a bit, as she blinked at the brown eyed girl. “Inuyasha turned full demon and killed them. I had been captured to, and they were all planning to rape me. Which is what made him turn and then he killed them all.”</p><p>“What?” Sango exclaimed loudly, lifting her head to glance all around. “Where is he?”</p><p>“He ran off,” Kagome cried. “He’s a wreck right now and he said he just needed to go. I don’t know what to do!”</p><p>“Shhh,” Sango comforted her, pulling her friend close so she could lean onto her and cry. “You’re ok now. Just let it go. We can go find Inuyasha in a little bit.”</p><p>“What if he never comes back?” Kagome wailed.</p><p>Sango stroked her hair and rested her chin on her head. “I’m sure he will come back. He probably needs to be alone for a little while. Let’s give him a breather right now and then we can go find him, ok?”</p><p>Kagome leaned against her friend for a bit, letting her tears run their course. “What happened to you? Did they do this to you when you were held hostage?”</p><p>“No. We were ok for the most part when Inuyasha rescued us, but as we flew away on Kirara, they sent some sort of explosion up at us, and we got hit with it, which left all these scratches everywhere,” Sango explained. “Miroku tried to suck it all up, but they also released some more venomous wasps, which he didn’t see, due to the cloud from the explosion. So he’s back at the cave, unable to get up and around. I got worried when you didn’t return after a bit, so I headed out to look for you.”</p><p>“Let’s go back to the cave,” Kagome’s lip quivered. “I’ll take care of Miroku real quick. I need to do something useful right now. Then we need to track Inuyasha down.”</p><p>“Where do you think he could have gone?” Sango asked. Although she was in far worse physical condition, she was the one to get to her feet and help Kagome up.</p><p>Kagome thought for a second, biting her lip as she tried to imagine what he would have done. “Probably somewhere near water to wash up.”</p><p>That was exactly where she found him a little later, after a quick run back to the cave via Kirara to heal Miroku. Her distraught boyfriend was still frantically scrubbing his robe and himself raw as he stood in the stream, trying to get every last bit of blood off. “Please just leave me be right now,” his tone was abrupt, as she tried to approach him. So she did, turning back to go to Kirara, who was waiting some distance away.</p><p>Inuyasha had taken a significant amount of damage as well, as was evident on his back and arms. There were a lot of huge gashes and purplish bruises mottling his skin. He wasn’t going to let her near him to heal them, and it broke her heart to have to see him like that.</p><p>The next month was tough on them all. Inuyasha had completely withdrawn from the others, even though he continued on as part of the group physically. He mostly kept to himself, hardly saying a word to anybody else, not even Kagome. All he did was follow along, taking part in the necessary battles whenever they found a shard, when needed. He scarcely ate anything at all, much to their concern. The troubled hanyou was starting to look worse, and it was more than Kagome could bear.</p><p>After a long, tiring day on the road, they decided to stop early and set up camp. They had enough preserved meat to last another meal, so there was no need to hunt or fish right now. Once they stopped, Inuyasha continued wandering off, muttering something about needing to take a bath. He had been doing that much more frequently in the past month, as it had become more of a psychological thing.</p><p>Sango had lay down in the shade of a large tree, reclining against Kirara’s furry side. Kagome glanced between her two friends, who had a bit of tension between themselves as well, and the back of Inuyasha’s retreating head. “Hey, Sango, I’m going to go follow Inuyasha down to the lake or wherever he’s going to take a bath. I might be back right away or might stay with him for a while. Hopefully I can get through to him, if I can get him to talk to me. Can you please make sure that Miroku doesn’t try to wander that way?”</p><p>“I got your back,” Sango affirmed, as the girls ignored the monk’s protests at how he would never do such a thing. “If the monk tries to leave camp, I’ll knock him out with Hiraikotsu. Kirara, keep an eye on him as well. Good luck, Kagome.”</p><p>Kagome gave her friend a sad smile and hurried after Inuyasha, who was moving rather rapidly. She didn’t need to actually see him to know where he was, but she she was just in a rush to get to him and try to see if he would actually talk to her.</p><p>“Mind if I join you?” Kagome asked, as she stood at the water’s edge. Inuyasha was already in the stream bathing, his clothes discarded in a heap on a flat, dry boulder.</p><p>Inuyasha turned to glance up at her, his eyes a bit dull. “Course not,” was his short reply.</p><p>Kagome undid her kimono and slipped her undergarments off, watching him, and noticing that he kept glancing her way as she undressed. Perhaps he was going to be more receptive than he had been for the past month, so she started to get her hopes up. The sun was hot on her bare skin, and the water nice and cool, as she slowly waded in until she was a couple feet from him, stopping about waist deep.</p><p>There was a boulder in the water, which Inuyasha was sitting on, for he was just below eye level to her. Rather than try to join him, she stood there watching him wash off for a moment before he silently passed the washcloth to her. Kagome took it and soaked it in the refreshing stream, before slowly caressing her skin with it. The movement caught Inuyasha’s attention, and he stared at her body, as she passed the washcloth over her bare torso, the water running down her curves in tiny streams.</p><p>“You’ve been so stressed out all month long,” Kagome began, unsure of how to approach the situation. Despite how their relationship had evolved after arriving in the past, it had taken a sudden turn south, after the day he transformed. It was so hard to talk to him again, even more so than it had ever been in the past, which was technically the far off future…</p><p>Inuyasha snorted at that. “Stressed. You fucking think?”</p><p>“Yeah, I know it’s stating the obvious,” Kagome lamented.</p><p>“I have never been so stressed in my entire fucking life,” Inuyasha told her, after a moment’s silence. He was back to staring down at the water in front of him, glancing up only now and then. “I’m so stressed, my head feels like it’s going to explode, constantly. I can hardly even sleep. It never fucking ends. All I can think about is what I did, and nothing I do will make it go away.”</p><p>Kagome felt a pang in her heart as she gazed at him. She hated seeing him so distraught, and wished she could take away all of his stress for him. “I’m not sure if there is anything that you can do, but you can always just talk to me. Usually that helps a lot, just having somebody to talk to and confide in.”</p><p>“What’s the point?” Inuyasha asked sullenly. “I just want to be alone.”</p><p>Kagome felt her heart break, as he literally just shrugged off her efforts, and bit her lip, trying to hold back her tears. She failed miserably and choked out a sob, covering her face with her hands as she whirled around to storm out of the stream. </p><p>Inuyasha’s eyes went wide immediately, and he leapt up from the boulder he had been sitting on. He was behind Kagome in a split second, wrapping his arms around her from behind to stop her from racing off. “Let go of me!” she tried to snap at him through her tears. “You said you wanted to be alone, so let go! I’ve been alone for the past month pretty much, so I’m glad you finally got the balls to come out and say it!”</p><p>“No! I didn’t mean that! I didn’t mean I want you to leave! I don’t know what I was saying or why I said that. I didn’t mean it that literally!” Inuyasha pleaded. He was angry with himself, not just for what he had done a month ago, but for realizing the effect he had been having on his girlfriend. He felt awful as he held her from behind, feeling her body shake as she cried.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Kagome mumbled, taking a shaky breath. She had stopped trying to pull away and allowed herself to lean back against his chest. “I know you’ve had a way harder time this past month than I have. I just want to be able to be there for you, so I can help you in any way that I can, but you’ve done nothing but ignore me and shun me for the past month. I know you’ve been having a very hard time dealing with what happened that day, but whenever I try to comfort you or show that I care, you instantly just push me away and don’t give me the slightest chance to try and be there for you. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but it kills me to see you like that. The constant rejection is definitely taking its toll on me, too.”</p><p>Inuyasha just stood there silently for a moment, playing her words over in his head. If he thought he felt as low as dirt before, he felt a hundred times worse now. Unsure of where to even begin, he felt frozen, but knew that he had to say something, at least. “I’m sorry for not noticing sooner. I am noticing now and I hope it’s not too late. We both have a lot of issues that we’ve been dealing with it seems.”</p><p>“That’s putting it mildly,” Kagome said, managing to choke out a short laugh. She pulled his hands down so she could take a step and turn to face him. “Look, I didn’t mean to turn into some kind of drama queen here. I just feel like I’m hitting my breaking point, with you always pushing me away.”</p><p>“I wasn’t intentionally pushing you away,” Inuyasha told her. He reached up and wiped her tears away with the back of his knuckle. “I’ve had a really hard time dealing with everything this past month. Just knowing everything I’ve done, even though I wasn’t myself at the time, has literally been eating away at me. I just don’t know how to come to terms with it, and was so preoccupied with figuring it out on my own, I guess.”</p><p>“Well, you’re not alone!” Kagome exclaimed. “That’s the whole point of being in a relationship with somebody! You don’t have to deal with your troubles all by yourself! If you just keep it all bottled up inside, you’re going to keep on dwelling on the same thing over and over again and you won’t get anywhere. So please, just talk to me and let me do what I can. For both of our sakes. Tell me what thoughts you have that bother you the most.”</p><p>Inuyasha gazed down at her silently. It was going to be extremely difficult for him to talk, but he knew that she was right, and that it had to happen. He couldn’t keep going on like this and pushing her away, to the point of no return. It took him a few long moments to try and collect his thoughts, but he finally started to speak. “I feel like a monster. I did all of that with my bare hands. I am a monster. When I look at my claws, it’s like I can still see all that blood on them.” </p><p>He held a clawed hand up for them both to see. “I haven’t stopped beating myself up ever since I came back to my usual self and I can’t get over what I’ve done. Do you have any idea how much I hate myself? I can still see and smell it all, and it’s like I can still see red everywhere I look.”</p><p>Kagome took his hand and kissed his knuckles, letting her fingertips trail along the edges of his claws. “You aren’t a monster at all. The fact that you have so much regret over it proves that. You just weren’t yourself. Think of it as being possessed, like I was that one time. It all started because you wanted to protect me. We were surrounded by the enemy and about to be sentenced to death, but they were going to gang rape me first. I’m not saying that what you did was good, necessarily, but neither one of us would be here right now if not for you. This is war here and unfortunately we are part of it.”</p><p>Inuyasha tensed and growled at the thought of what would have happened to Kagome if he hadn’t gone full demon. The very thought sickened him. </p><p>“Your youki reacted and did what was necessary for us to survive,” Kagome continued. She reached up and placed a hand on his jaw, her thumb stroking his cheek. “The soldiers may have been human, but they were apparently in league with the Band of Seven, thus in league with Naraku. It seems that youkai aren’t going to be our only enemy in this time.”</p><p>“I know,” Inuyasha admitted. “I still hate the idea of having to kill people though.”</p><p>“That’s why you’ll never be a monster,” Kagome reassured him softly. “I can only imagine how hard it must be to have to deal with the emotional aftermath, but I’m here for you whenever you need me. Time will help you heal, and I’m here for you every step of the way.”</p><p>“Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you,” Inuyasha shuddered, as his girlfriend stepped back closer to him, this time for a hug. Her hands went to his back, rubbing his smooth skin. Some of his wounds had been quite deep, but his youkai blood had healed them rapidly, and it was as if he had never been injured. “Although, I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t you want to just be with somebody who wasn’t at risk of being such a danger? Why would you still want to be with me after all of that?”</p><p>Kagome just rested the side of her face on his chest, closing her eyes as she listened to his heart hammer rapidly. “Because I love you,” she told him quietly. “So even when things are going really rough, I’m not going to leave your side.”</p><p>Inuyasha’s eyes widened as he pulled back so he could look down at her. “You love me?” he asked, his voice shocked.</p><p>“Yeah,” Kagome replied, blushing a bit as she dared to meet his gaze. “I do and have for some time now. And while I can only hope you feel the same way back, I don’t want you to feel like you have to say so just because I said it first. I’d rather wait and have you tell me in happier times.”</p><p>“Ok, it’s a deal,” Inuyasha replied, unable to stop himself from grinning just a bit. In all honesty he wasn’t quite sure that he had the nerve to say those words to her just yet, even if he did think that he felt the same way. It wasn’t something he could do lightly. However, he was secretly thrilled to hear her say so.</p><p>“Good,” Kagome said, shifting a bit. “So, is there anything else that has been bothering you that you want to talk about right now?”</p><p>Inuyasha sighed and let go of her once again, pulling back so she was standing upright. His gaze travelled along the side of her face, down to her neck. While the bite itself had healed, the mark itself remained. Although it was invisible, it was still something that could be instantly sensed by anybody with youkai blood. He moved his hand up to lightly trace the area with a claw. </p><p>“Yeah. The other main thing that’s been bothering me is that I did this to you. I claimed you and I did it without your consent.” His eyes met hers, as he tried to gauge her reaction.</p><p>Kagome was a bit confused at that, although she was able to guess what he was referring to. “I do remember you biting my neck, but what do you mean by claimed?”</p><p>Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. “I take it you don’t know much about how youkai mate, do you?” She shook her head in response. “Well…this is kind of the first step in the process. I bite you in the neck and that leaves a mark that other youkai can sense. It’s like…ah…”</p><p>“What?” Kagome asked, her brows furrowed as she gazed up at him. She was more curious about the mark than anything. Even though she had healed her own neck, she often times felt a tingle in the spot he had bitten her. “Is it bad?”</p><p>“Bad? No?” Inuyasha was frowning, as he struggled to find a way how to tell her the significance. “Well it’s bad in the sense you didn’t consent to it first. At least to me, that’s a bad thing. Basically it’s like the equivalent of humans getting engaged…”</p><p>“We’re engaged?” Kagome blinked at him.</p><p>“No!” Inuyasha told her quickly. “Well, I mean, to other youkai we kind of are, as I have claimed you for myself. But we can’t be engaged because I did it without being aware of it, and because you didn’t give me permission to do it. It just happened. I’m sorry.”</p><p>“It’s ok. Worse things have happened,” Kagome reassured him. She wasn’t angry over what he did, although it would have been nice if it had happened differently, at a later part in their relationship. “So if this was just the first step, what are the others? What’s the process?”</p><p>Inuyasha sighed and gave her a sheepish grin. “Eh, usually there isn’t really any process. Youkai have different traditions than humans and they usually go straight to fully mating. Just merely claiming somebody, like I did, is rare. If you’re going to claim somebody, you might as well just do the whole thing right then. Basically mating is literally what it sounds like. The bite mark is done during sex.”</p><p>“Oh, I see. Sounds a bit kinky,” Kagome smirked at him. “Well…one day when we’re ready, we can talk more about the idea I suppose. For now, can we please say that we’ve made up, and that going forward, you aren’t going to keep shutting me out?”</p><p>“Yes. I promise not to do that anymore. I’ve never been in a relationship before so I’m bound to make mistakes. Thanks for not giving up on me,” Inuyasha said, giving her a slight grimace. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He was still pained from that day, but talking to her had helped more than he realized it would.</p><p>“We all make mistakes. The important part is that we learn from them and don’t keep making them,” Kagome told him. Biting her lip a bit, she stepped back closer to him, reaching up to wrap her arms around the back of his neck and pull him down. She grinned against his mouth as he kissed her for the first time in far too long. She had missed his taste quite a bit. As his arms snaked around her, keeping her close as he kissed her with increased hunger, she was reminded of the fact that they were both completely naked. A shudder ran through her body when she pressed her hips forward, feeling his growing arousal brushing against her.</p><p>“At least you can still get it up,” Kagome teased, as she reached down and wrapped a hand around his thick shaft. It had been way too long since they had done any sort of fooling around, and she just couldn’t wait until tonight.</p><p>Inuyasha groaned and jerked his hips at her touch. “Course I can get it up, bitch. I still know how to use it too. You’re going to find out very soon. I have a lot of making up to do.” He was practically panting, as she continued jerking him off with her hand.</p><p>“You really do. Make up to me right now,” Kagome gasped, her head turning to the side as she felt his lips move down to one of her favorite spots to be kissed. Right now his kisses were rougher than they normally were, but she didn’t care. All she wanted right now was him, and she was quickly becoming a bit delirious with the way he was kissing her. As he scooped her up a bit in his arms, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips as he walked them out of the water to a stretch of mostly flat land near the edge of the stream.</p>
<hr/><p>Sango sighed and picked the last bit of bark off of the stick she had been peeling, before tossing it into the fire. They had cooked some fish a bit ago, but it was still only her and Miroku at camp. “What’s taking them so long? The sun is already almost gone. Don’t you think we should go check on them and make sure they’re ok?”</p><p>“Sango, my dear,” Miroku said, trying not to chuckle too much. It amused him how naive the slayer could be at times. “Making up can take a long time to do, and it’s best not to interrupt. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t come back until morning.” He paused, unable to resist waggling his eyebrows at her, as his hand snuck over and down. “Perhaps we could take advantage of the privacy here as well.”</p><p>A second later, the monk had a handprint on his face.</p><p><br/>
<em>A/N: Thank you to whoever nominated this story for Best Action!!!! I hope it gets some votes lol!! Feel free to review if you’re enjoying it :D</em><br/>
<em>I’m officially caught up to everything I’ve written a whole year ago, damn it! I do need to start writing some new chapters…just so freaking busy!</em>
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